Pygmy chameleons have bicuspid claws where each claw has two points like a crescent moon.
The word Rieppeleon is named after the scientist Olivier Rieppel.
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.
The process of shedding is called ecdysis.
Chameleons have a high midichlorian count.
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.
Chameleons have acrodont teeth meaning they are an extension of the jawbone. They are not set in sockets nor are they replaced.
The horns on a chameleon are made up of ringlike segments of inner bone covered by a hard keratin-like skin.
Some chameleons play dead to avoid predation; this is called thanatosis.
The word Furcifer is derived from the Latin word “furci” or forked.