Furcifer oustaleti (Oustalet’s Chameleon) is the longest chameleon species reaching lengths of 27 inches (68cm).
Chameleons have a very poor sense of smell.
The word Calumma comes from the Latin word for covering. This genus consists of chameleons from Madagascar with occipital lobes.
Trioceros goetzei (Goetze’s Chameleon) emits an audible, high pitched whistle when threatened.
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!
The word Brookesia is named after the British naturalist Joshua Brookes.
Chameleons do have taste buds on their tongue but overall they have a poor sense of taste.
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 word Furcifer is derived from the Latin word “furci” or forked.
The word Rieppeleon is named after the scientist Olivier Rieppel.