The word Furcifer is derived from the Latin word “furci” or forked.
Chameleons have acrodont teeth meaning they are an extension of the jawbone. They are not set in sockets nor are they replaced.
The horns on a chameleon are made up of ringlike segments of inner bone covered by a hard keratin-like skin.
Chameleons do have taste buds on their tongue but overall they have a poor sense of taste.
Some chameleons play dead to avoid predation; this is called thanatosis.
Furcifer labordi (Labord’s Chameleon) has the shortest lifespan of only 4-5 months. It also has the shortest lifespan of any tetrapod!
The oldest known chameleon fossil is from the extinct species Chamaeleo caroliquarti. It was found in Europe and is 26 million years old.
Trioceros schubotzi can be found at elevations as high as 4500m.
The word Rieppeleon is named after the scientist Olivier Rieppel.
There are currently 202 recognized chameleon species and 85 of them are found on the island of Madagascar.