Chameleons have a very poor sense of smell.
The word Rhampholeon is taken from the Latinized Greek “rhamphos leon” meaning crawling lion.
Pygmy chameleons have bicuspid claws where each claw has two points like a crescent moon.
Some chameleons play dead to avoid predation; this is called thanatosis.
The process of shedding is called ecdysis.
The oldest known chameleon fossil is from the extinct species Chamaeleo caroliquarti. It was found in Europe and is 26 million years old.
Chameleon fossils have been found in central Europe and China, indicating they were once much more widespread than they are now.
The chameleon tongue accelerates towards its target at over 1642m per second. Chameleons rarely miss their intended food item.
Chameleons can project their tongue up to 2.2 times their body length.
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.