Many chameleon species have a bright red, orange or yellow mouth. This conspicuous interior when displayed is used as a defense against predators.
The chameleon tongue accelerates towards its target at over 1642m per second. Chameleons rarely miss their intended food item.
The word Rieppeleon is named after the scientist Olivier Rieppel.
The horns on a chameleon are made up of ringlike segments of inner bone covered by a hard keratin-like skin.
Chameleons have acrodont teeth meaning they are an extension of the jawbone. They are not set in sockets nor are they replaced.
Trioceros goetzei (Goetze’s Chameleon) emits an audible, high pitched whistle when threatened.
The word Chamaeleo is derived via Latin from the Greek word khamaileon. It roughly translates to ground lion. Khamai means on the ground and leon means lion.
Trioceros schubotzi can be found at elevations as high as 4500m.
The word Calumma comes from the Latin word for covering. This genus consists of chameleons from Madagascar with occipital lobes.