Chameleons have acrodont teeth meaning they are an extension of the jawbone. They are not set in sockets nor are they replaced.
The horns on a chameleon are made up of ringlike segments of inner bone covered by a hard keratin-like skin.
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.
The word Rieppeleon is named after the scientist Olivier Rieppel.
Many chameleon species have a bright red, orange or yellow mouth. This conspicuous interior when displayed is used as a defense against predators.
True chameleons include the following genera: Archaius, Bradypodion, Brookesia, Calumma, Chamaeleo, Furcifer, Kinyongia, Nadzikambia, Palleon, Rhampholeon, Rieppeleon and Trioceros.
Some chameleons play dead to avoid predation; this is called thanatosis.
The smallest chameleon species is Brookesia micra with an adult length just over 1 inch (29mm). It hatches from an egg no bigger than a grain of rice!
Trioceros goetzei (Goetze’s Chameleon) emits an audible, high pitched whistle when threatened.