Chameleon and frog anscestory?

[DChalo]

I was wondering if frogs were at all related to chameleons in any way. I never noticed this before, but both chameleons and frogs can shoot their tongues out to catch prey. Does anyone have any information of a common anscestor or something?

 

[Chris Anderson]

The closest common ancestor of chameleons and frogs are primitive tetrapods which lived no less than 350 million years ago. The ballistic tongue projection mechanism in chameleons and frogs are independently evolved mechanisms and they are functionally quite different from each other. Tongue projection in salamanders is functionally more similar to chameleons, but actually opposite in anatomical arrangement and still independently evolved.

Chris

 

[RJDragons]

Your move bill nye the science guy!!!

 

[jojackson]

Chameleons are believed to be distantly related to Agamid lizards.

http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2008/06/agamids_and_chameleons.php

frog chameleon tongue convergent evolution?

http://www.mapoflife.org/topics/topic_51_Tongues-of-chameleons-and-amphibians/

supercontracting muscle in the chameleon tongue

http://www2.nau.edu/froggy-p/pdfs/Herrel et al. 2001b.pdf