Chamaeleo namaquensis is found in the desert of Namibia. To cool off it will sometimes bury itself in the sand.
Chameleon fossils have been found in central Europe and China, indicating they were once much more widespread than they are now.
Chameleons have a very poor sense of smell.
The word Furcifer is derived from the Latin word “furci” or forked.
Furcifer labordi (Labord’s Chameleon) has the shortest lifespan of only 4-5 months. It also has the shortest lifespan of any tetrapod!
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.
The largest chameleon species by weight is Calumma parsonii (Parson’s Chameleon).
Chameleons do have taste buds on their tongue but overall they have a poor sense of taste.
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 have bicuspid claws where each claw has two points like a crescent moon.