The word Calumma comes from the Latin word for covering. This genus consists of chameleons from Madagascar with occipital lobes.
Pygmy chameleons are sometimes referred to as False Chameleons. This term is actually incorrect and is in reference to anoles, particularly the Cuban False Anole.
The horns on a chameleon are made up of ringlike segments of inner bone covered by a hard keratin-like skin.
The word Rhampholeon is taken from the Latinized Greek “rhamphos leon” meaning crawling lion.
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.
Some chameleons play dead to avoid predation; this is called thanatosis.
There are currently 202 recognized chameleon species and 85 of them are found on the island of Madagascar.
The largest chameleon species by weight is Calumma parsonii (Parson’s Chameleon).
Trioceros schubotzi can be found at elevations as high as 4500m.
The word Furcifer is derived from the Latin word “furci” or forked.