The word Rieppeleon is named after the scientist Olivier Rieppel.
Chameleon fossils have been found in central Europe and China, indicating they were once much more widespread than they are now.
Trioceros schubotzi can be found at elevations as high as 4500m.
Many chameleon species have a bright red, orange or yellow mouth. This conspicuous interior when displayed is used as a defense against predators.
The oldest known chameleon fossil is from the extinct species Chamaeleo caroliquarti. It was found in Europe and is 26 million years old.
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!
Chameleons have a very poor sense of smell.
The horns on a chameleon are made up of ringlike segments of inner bone covered by a hard keratin-like skin.
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.
Trioceros goetzei (Goetze’s Chameleon) emits an audible, high pitched whistle when threatened.