Chameleons do not have external ears or a tympanic membrane, but they do have internal ears as well as degenerated middle ears. They do not hear well but they can detect low frequency sounds.
Many chameleon species have a bright red, orange or yellow mouth. This conspicuous interior when displayed is used as a defense against predators.
The word Brookesia is named after the British naturalist Joshua Brookes.
Chameleons can project their tongue up to 2.2 times their body length.
Furcifer labordi (Labord’s Chameleon) has the shortest lifespan of only 4-5 months. It also has the shortest lifespan of any tetrapod!
Kinyongia uthmoelleri and Trioceros quadricornis gracilor have red claws.
The word Bradypodion comes from the latin “bradus podos” or slow foot.
Pygmy chameleons (Brookesia, Palleon, Rhampholeon and Rieppeleon sp.) often resemble dry leaves, mosses and branches.
Chameleons change color by rearranging a lattice of nanocrystals in one of their top layers of skin cells called iridophores. Chameleons can then stretch this layer, broadening the nanocrystalline lattice, thereby causing it to reflect a different wavelength of light.
Pygmy chameleons have bicuspid claws where each claw has two points like a crescent moon.