Guardian Nature School Team Contact Blog Project Noah Facebook Project Noah Twitter

A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife

Join Project Noah!
nature school apple icon

Project Noah Nature School visit nature school

Chameleon

Chamaeleo chamaeleon

Description:

Chameleons vary greatly in size and body structure, with maximum total lengths varying from 15 mm (0.59 in) in male Brookesia micra (one of the world's smallest reptiles) to 68.5 cm (27.0 in) in the male Furcifer oustaleti.[19][20] Many have head or facial ornamentation, such as nasal protrusions, or horn-like projections in the case of Trioceros jacksonii, or large crests on top of their heads, like Chamaeleo calyptratus. Many species are sexually dimorphic, and males are typically much more ornamented than the female chameleons. Typical sizes of species of chameleon commonly kept as pets are: Scientific name Common name Length (male) Length (female) Color Lifespan (years) Chamaeleo calyptratus Veiled chameleon 14–24 in 10–13 in Green and light colors about 5 Trioceros jacksonii Jackson's chameleon 9–13 in 10–13 in Green and light colors 5–10 Furcifer pardalis Panther chameleon 15–21 in 9–13 in Darker colors about 5 (2–3 for birthing females) Rieppeleon brevicaudatus Bearded pygmy chameleon 2–3 in 2–3 in Brown, beige, green about 3–5 Rhampholeon spectrum Spectral pygmy chameleon 3–4 in 2–4 in Tan and gray 3-5 Rhampholeon temporalis Usumbara pitted pygmy chameleon 2.5–4.0 in 2.0–3.5 in Gray and brown 5-11 The feet of chameleons are highly adapted to arboreal locomotion, though species such as Chamaeleo namaquensis, that have secondarily adopted a terrestrial habit, have retained the same foot morphology with little modification. On each foot, the five clearly distinguished toes are grouped into two fascicles. The toes in each fascicle are bound into a flattened group of either two or three, giving each foot a tongs-like appearance. On the front feet, the outer, lateral, group contains two toes, whereas the inner, medial, group contains three. On the rear feet, this arrangement is reversed, the medial group containing two toes, and the lateral group three. These specialized feet allow chameleons to grip tightly onto narrow or rough branches. Furthermore, each toe is equipped with a sharp claw to afford a grip on surfaces such as bark when climbing. It is common to refer to the feet of chameleons as didactyl or zygodactyl, though neither term is fully satisfactory, both being used in describing totally different feet, such as the zygodactyl feet of parrots or didactyl feet of sloths or ostriches, none of which is significantly like chameleon feet. Although "zygodactyl" is reasonably descriptive of chameleon foot anatomy, their foot structure does not resemble that of parrots, to which the term was first applied. As for didactyly, chameleons visibly have five toes on each foot, not two. Some chameleons have a crest of small spikes extending along the spine from the proximal part of the tail to the neck; both the extent and size of the spikes varies between species and individuals. These spikes help break up the definitive outline of the chameleon, which aids it when trying to blend into a background.

Habitat:

Chameleons are primarily found in the mainland of sub-Saharan Africa and on the island of Madagascar, although a few species are also found in northern Africa, southern Europe, the Middle East, southern India, Sri Lanka, and several smaller islands in the western Indian Ocean. There are introduced, feral populations of veiled and Jackson's chameleons in Hawaii, and isolated pockets of feral Jackson's chameleons have been reported in California and Florida. Chameleons inhabit all kinds of tropical and mountain rain forests, savannas, and sometimes deserts and steppes. The typical chameleons from the subfamily Chamaeleoninae are arboreal and usually found in trees or bushes, although a few (notably the Namaqua chameleon) are partially or largely terrestrial. Most species from the subfamily Brookesiinae, which includes the genera Brookesia, Rieppeleon, and Rhampholeon, live low in vegetation or on the ground among leaf litter. Many species of chameleons are threatened by extinction. Declining chameleon numbers are due to pollution and deforestation.

Notes:

Mechanism of color change: Chameleons have specialized cells, chromatophores, which contain pigments in their cytoplasm, in three layers below their transparent outer skin: The chromatophores in the upper layer, called xanthophores and erythrophores, contain yellow and red pigments, respectively. Below the chromatophores is a second layer of chromatophores called iridophores or guanophores; these contain guanine, appearing blue or white. The deepest layer of chromatophores, called melanophores, contain the dark pigment melanin, which controls how much light is reflected. Dispersion of the pigment granules in the chromatophores sets the intensity of each color. When the pigment is equally distributed in a chromatophore, the whole cell is intensively colored. When the pigment is located only in the center of the cell, the cell appears mainly transparent. Chromatophores can rapidly relocate their particles of pigment, thereby influencing the animal's color.

Species ID Suggestions



Sign in to suggest organism ID

No Comments

IshaniJha
Spotted by
IshaniJha

Hyderabad, Telangana, India

Spotted on Apr 27, 2014
Submitted on Apr 28, 2014

Related Spottings

Chameleon Mediterranean Chameleon Chameleon Mediterranean Chameleon

Nearby Spottings

Common Mormon White Orange Tip Common Gull Lime Butterfly

Reference

Noah Guardians
Noah Sponsors
join Project Noah Team

Join the Project Noah Team