Chameleons

07/31/2020

A bit about them:

Masters of disguise and camouflage? Not really...

Chameleons are some of the coolest animals out there (You'll hear me say that about a lot of animals tho). With amazing camouflage abilities, goofy mitten hands and a grappling hook tongue, they have some quality equipment to contest for coolest animal. They aren't, however, as good at camouflaging as some people may believe. They can't disguise themselves on just any backdrop, but are very skilled in staying hidden in their own neighbourhoods.

Common Name:

Chameleon

Coming from the Greek words meaning ground Lion.

Scientific classification:

Kingdom:

Animalia

Phylum:

Chordata

Class:

Reptilia

Order:

Squamata

Family:

Chameleonidae

Genus:

Species:

Closely related to/Family tree:

Dragons! Well, what we call dragons these days at least.

Bearded Dragon

A group is called:

Chameleons rarely hang out in groups, but if you were to attach a name to a group of them, you could use the general term for a group of lizards; A lounge.

A lounge of young Veiled Chameleons

Status:

Least concern

Appearance:

Chameleon hands appear as if they're wearing mittens, this is because some of their fingers are fused together. On the front hands, they have two fused fingers on the outside, and three on the inside. Vice Versa for the feet. This helps to keep them balanced on branches.

Two joint fingers on the outside and three inside

Chameleon eyelids are fused shut, so that just the pupil can be seen. Their eyes can move independently and thus provide them with a 360 degree view of their surroundings when they choose. Other times they can focus both onto the same point for better vision, so if a chameleon has both eyes on you.... Watch out!

Fused eyelids

Some species have horns and extrusions, some arranged in such a pattern (Casque) that small water droplets will collect in between them and roll down into the chameleons mouth while they sleep for effortless hydration.

Casque

They have prehensile tails which are mostly used when moving between branches, for support.

Prehensile Tail

There is a subspecies of Chameleon known as Brookesia Chameleons, and they're are recognisable by their itty bitty size.

A needle in a haystack

Range:

Naturally, chameleons are found everywhere in Africa except in the Saharan desert, but also in southern Europe, the middle East and along the western coast of India. There are also feral population of several species established in Florida, California and Texas (USA) as well as Hawaii (USA). Nearly half of all chameleon species are found in Madagascar.

Chameleon natural range

Habitat:

Chameleons live in a range of different habitats including rainforests, mountain ranges, desert and semi-deserts and scrub savannas. With their specially adapted hands, they mostly live an arboreal lifestyle, however some spend most of their time on the ground or amongst leaf litter.

Feeding style:

Chameleons are stealth hunters, utilising their camouflage abilities to great advantage. They sneak up on their prey, tremulating as they walk, focusing both eyes onto their prey for a binocular view and then they strike. Not with their mouth as such, but with just their tongue. A chameleons tongue can strike at such speeds and distances that most prey don't even know what's happening before its too late.

Outstretched Chameleon tongue

A chameleons tongue is literally spring loaded to exert a speed and force greater than the muscle alone is capable of producing. The spring loaded tongue is often double the length of the chameleons body, reaching its prey as quick as 0.07 seconds. Their tongue tip is a ball of muscle which when it collides with its target at such high speeds, forms a suction cup around the target, and then can be drawn back to the mouth for digestions, with the target having very little chance of escape.Chameleons mostly eat small insects like crickets, locusts and stick insects, but will also eat small birds and lizards

Predators:

Snakes and birds are the main threats to chameleons, but some mammals and other reptiles also like to have a nibble every now and then.

Habits/behaviours:

Because these hide and seek geniuses have absolutely no self-defence options, never being seen in the first place is their best choice.

Chameleons have a tendency to blend in, whether its their skin colour, the way that they sway or 'Tremulate' when walking along (as to move with the branches) or the small spiky ridges along their spine and sometimes throat which help break up their silhouette. Either way, you don't want to be stuck as the seeker when playing hide and seek with a Chameleon.

A well camouflaged Chameleon

Chameleons can change their skin colour, but not so much as to blend into their surrounding as to stand out from it.
They naturally are well camouflaged to their own distinct environments (Whether that be forest or desert etc...) and can conduct minor colour changes to reflect their changing surroundings, however they don't have the ability to match exactly what's behind them.

For example, if you were to place a Chameleon on an Australian flag, it wouldn't become blue with white and red lines and white stars scattered across its skin. It may however become overall a darker shade than usual.

They will flare up in bright contrasting colours for the right reason however. Some of these reasons include defending territory, displaying dominance and signalling for a mate. This is particularly for when a Chameleon wishes to be seen.

If they were to ever show a sign to tell someone to piss off, they would turn very dark, almost black.

Excited colour change

Angry colour change

The actual method by which they change colour is very interesting and is possible by having three layers of colour changing skin.

The outer layer has chromatophores which as we know are cells which control colour.

The second layer has guanine crystals which when expanded or contracted can reflect light in different ways.

The inner layer effects the brightness of the colour.

Reproduction:

Chameleon reproduction begins with the male trying with so much effort to mate with a female; No easy task.

There are many obstacles to baby making with Chameleons, the most pressing being that the females mostly don't want to. They dislike males being nearby, which who can blame them, so a male has to catch one in the right mood.

Secondly, males have to stand out from the crowd to be successful. Males will change colour to become more bright and contrasted to their environment as to attract the females attention and give her a bit of a 'How you doin'. The female responds by colour signalling also; Darker colours for not interested and bright and vibrant for keen as a bean.

Keen as a bean male

Not interested female

Once the babies are on the way, depending on the species, it can take anywhere from 4-12 months, with 1 species being speculated to have a gestation period of 24 months.Most species lay eggs (Oviparous) after a couple of weeks, but some give birth to live young (Viviparous) and others do a bit of both (Ovoviviparous) where they allow the baby to grow in the egg inside the mum and then they are "laid" when mostly developed.

Clutch sizes can be up to 30 eggs at a time.

Cool tricks:

So we all know that lizards are cold blooded and therefore need to bask in the sun to warm up. But the nifty tongue of the chameleon is not so effected by cold weather. Their tongue can fire at the same rate regardless of temperature, due to the spring loaded power.

Chameleon bones glow under a UV light as they're biogenically fluorescent.

How to find a chameleon in the forest

Changing skin colour to be brighter or darker can help with thermoregulation, which is a prominent part of a reptiles life.

A species of chameleon (Labord's Chameleon) has been awarded the unique prize of shortest lived tetrapod, with eggs hatching in November, Maturation in January, egg laying by March and a soon after, death. A lifespan of about 5 months!

Sources:

https://www.australiazoo.com.au/wildlife/our-animals/veiled-chameleon/

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2018/08/chameleon-camouflage-color-change-myth-news/

https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/chameleon

https://www.livescience.com/51061-chameleon.html

https://reptilepark.com.au/animals/reptiles/exotic-lizards/veiled-chameleon/

https://www.britannica.com/animal/chameleon-reptile

https://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2015/03/11/4195311.htm

https://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150813-the-truth-about-chameleons