Chamaeleonidae (Chameleons)

Range: Africa, the Middle East, Madagascar, southern Spain, Sri Lanka, India. [IMG_1]Genera – 6 Species – 171 Ecology and behaviour: They occupy a wide variety of habitats: the understorey and upper canopy of tropical forests, shrubby thickets, etc. Both oviparous and viviparous representatives are known. Clutch size correlates with body size – larger species lay significantly more eggs or embryos (20–50) than smaller ones (2–8). Morphological features: The body is laterally compressed, the feet and hands are modified into claw-like gripping organs, and the long tail can coil spirally – all adaptations of chameleons to an arboreal lifestyle. The head is helmet-shaped and ornate, mainly in males and to a lesser degree in females, with crests or horns. The eyes, covered by a continuous annular eyelid, can rotate freely and independently of each other through 180 degrees in the horizontal plane and 90 degrees in the vertical plane. The tympanic membrane is absent, meaning that airborne sound is not perceived by chameleons. The tongue, used for hunting insects, is highly specialised. It is complex in structure and its length exceeds the combined length of the head and trunk of the animal. The ability to change colour – the most remarkable feature of chameleons – is provided by guanine crystals in the integument, which refract light, and by chromatophores – pigment-containing cells. [IMG_2] Furcifer campani [IMG_3] Brookesia vadoni [IMG_4] Bradypodion dracomontanum 1. Vitt L.J., Caldwell J.P. Herpetology. An Introductory Biology of Amphibians and Reptiles. — Academic Press, 2009. — p. 517 - 520 2. Animal Life. In 7 volumes. Volume 5. Amphibians. Reptiles. — Moscow: Prosveshcheniye, 1985. — p. 205 - 210 3. Higher Taxa in Extant Reptiles 4. Arkive 5. WildMadagascar.org