The word Furcifer is derived from the Latin word “furci” or forked.
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.
Pygmy chameleons (Brookesia, Palleon, Rhampholeon and Rieppeleon sp.) often resemble dry leaves, mosses and branches.
The horns on a chameleon are made up of ringlike segments of inner bone covered by a hard keratin-like skin.
The process of shedding is called ecdysis.
Kinyongia uthmoelleri and Trioceros quadricornis gracilor have red claws.
The word Brookesia is named after the British naturalist Joshua Brookes.
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.
The largest chameleon species by weight is Calumma parsonii (Parson’s Chameleon).
The word Calumma comes from the Latin word for covering. This genus consists of chameleons from Madagascar with occipital lobes.