The word Brookesia is named after the British naturalist Joshua Brookes.
The word Chamaeleo is derived via Latin from the Greek word khamaileon. It roughly translates to ground lion. Khamai means on the ground and leon means lion.
The word Bradypodion comes from the latin “bradus podos” or slow foot.
The oldest known chameleon fossil is from the extinct species Chamaeleo caroliquarti. It was found in Europe and is 26 million years old.
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.
Some chameleons play dead to avoid predation; this is called thanatosis.
Chameleons do have taste buds on their tongue but overall they have a poor sense of taste.
The chameleon tongue accelerates towards its target at over 1642m per second. Chameleons rarely miss their intended food item.
The word Furcifer is derived from the Latin word “furci” or forked.
Chameleons can project their tongue up to 2.2 times their body length.