The word Kinyongia is from the Swahili word for chameleons: Kinyonga.
The word Calumma comes from the Latin word for covering. This genus consists of chameleons from Madagascar with occipital lobes.
Some chameleons play dead to avoid predation; this is called thanatosis.
Chameleons have laterally compressed bodies. This enables them to warm up quickly by presenting a larger surface area to the sun. It also helps some chameleon species blend in among the similarly shaped leaves in their environment.
The word Brookesia is named after the British naturalist Joshua Brookes.
True chameleons include the following genera: Archaius, Bradypodion, Brookesia, Calumma, Chamaeleo, Furcifer, Kinyongia, Nadzikambia, Palleon, Rhampholeon, Rieppeleon and Trioceros.
Many chameleon species have a bright red, orange or yellow mouth. This conspicuous interior when displayed is used as a defense against predators.
Chameleons have a very poor sense of smell.
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.
The horns on a chameleon are made up of ringlike segments of inner bone covered by a hard keratin-like skin.