Category

Space Science Earth Technology Notable Figures Branches of Science

Subcategory

Amphibians Arachnids Birds Cnidaria Crustaceans Dinosaurs Domestic Cat Breeds Domestic Dog Breeds Elements Fish Health Insects Mammalia Mathematics Mollusks Plants Reptiles Theories Tunicates

Articles

Abaco Island Boa Aesculapian Snake African fat-tailed gecko African Spurred Tortoise Agamas Aldabra Giant Tortoise Alligator Snapping Turtle Amazon Tree Boa Amboina Box Turtle American Alligator American copperhead American Crocodile Arafura File Snake Arakan Forest Turtle Australasian Pig-nose Turtle Baird’s Rat Snake Baja California collared lizard Baja California leopard lizard Ball Python Banded Krait Banded Rock Lizard Banded Rock Rattlesnake Barbour's day gecko Barbour's Map Turtle Basiliscus Batagur Beaded Lizard (Mexican Beaded Lizard) Bearded Dragon Bearded Leaf Chameleon (Bearded Pygmy Chameleon) Beauty Rat Snake Bengal Monitor Black Mamba Black Rat Snake Black Tree Monitor Black-knobbed Map Turtle Black-tailed Rattlesnake Blanding's Turtle Blue Iguana Blunt-nosed Leopard Lizard Brahminy Blind Snake Broad-banded Copperhead Broad-headed Skink Broad-headed Skink Brown Anole Brown Basilisk (Striped Basilisk) Brown Tree Snake Buff-striped Keelback Bull Snake Buttermilk Racer Carolina Anole Chameleon Checkered Garter Snake Checkered Keelback (Asiatic Water Snake) Children's Python Chinese Alligator Chuckwalla Coachella Valley Fringe-toed Lizard Coachwhip (Whip Snake) Coal Skink Cobra Collett's Snake Colubrine Sea Krait Common Death Adder Common Garter Snake Common Krait Common Northern Boa Common Snake-neck Turtle Coral snake Corn Snake Cottonmouth Cottonmouth (Water Moccasin) Crevice Spiny Lizard Cuban Crocodile Cunningham’s Skink Desert Box Turtle Desert Death Adder Desert Horned Lizard Desert Iguana Desert Massasauga Desert night lizard Desert Tortoise Diamondback Terrapin Diamondback Water Snake Dice Snake Dull day gecko Dumeril’s Boa Dwarf Crocodile Eastern Blue-tongued Lizard Eastern Box Turtle Eastern Collared Lizard (Common Collared Lizard) Eastern Fence Lizard Eastern Green Mamba Eastern Hognose Snake Eastern Yellowbelly Racer Egyptian Cobra Egyptian Tortoise Emerald Swift or Green Spiny Lizard Emerald Tree Boa Erhard's wall lizard European Copper Skink European Pond Terrapin False Gharial (Malayan Gharial) False Water Cobra Fierce Snake Fiji Banded Iguana File Snake Five-lined Skink Flat-tailed day gecko Flat-tailed Horned Lizard Florida Gopher Tortoise Florida Redbelly Turtle Florida Soft-shell Turtle Four-lined Skink Fox Snake Freshwater Crocodile Frill-necked Lizard Gecko Gharial Gila monster Gilbert's Skink Glossy Snake Goanna Gold dust day gecko Gold-ringed Cat Snake (Mangrove Snake) Granite Spiny Lizard Grass Snake Gray-banded King Snake Great Plains Skink Greater Earless Lizard Greek Tortoise Green Iguana Green Sea Turtle Green Vine Snake Gulf Coast Box Turtle Gunther’s Burrowing Snake Hawksbill Turtle Hermann’s Tortoise Hopi Rattlesnake Indian Cobra (Spectacled Cobra) Indian Earth Snake Indian Flap-shelled Turtle Indian Star Tortoise Iridescent Shieldtail Jackson’s Chameleon Jamaican Boa Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle King Cobra Knight Anole Komodo Dragon Lace Monitor (Lace Goanna) Leatherback Sea Turtle Leopard Tortoise Loggerhead Sea Turtle Long-nosed Leopard Lizard Long-tailed Brush Lizard Madagascar Big-headed Turtle Madagascar day gecko Madagascar Ground Boa Madagascar Tree Boa Marginated Tortoise Marine Iguana Massasauga Mata mata Mexican Burrowing Snake Mexican Milk Snake Mojave Rattlesnake Mole Skink Mona Ground Iguana Mugger Crocodile Mussurana Nile Crocodile Nile Monitor Northern Alligator Lizard Northern Ribbon Snake Northern Water Snake Orinoco Crocodile Otago skink Painted Turtle Panther Chameleon Percival’s Legless Lizard Perentie Phelsuma modesta leiogaster Phelsuma v-nigra v-nigra Phipson’s Shieldtail Pine Snake Plain-bellied Water Snake Plumed Basilisk Prairie King Snake Prairie or Western rattlesnake Pueblan Milk Snake Puerto Rican Boa Pygmy Rattlesnake Queen Snake Radiated Tortoise Rainbow Boa Rattlesnake Red-bellied Black Snake Red-eared Slider Red-footed tortoise Red-stripe Ribbon Snake Red-tailed Boa Regal Ring-neck Snake Rhinoceros Iguana Ridge-nosed Rattlesnake Robert Merten's day gecko Rodrigues day gecko Rough Green Snake Round-tail Horned Lizard Russian Tortoise Salt Marsh Snake Saltwater or Estuarine Crocodile Salty Earth Snake San Francisco Garter Snake Sand Skink (Neoseps) Savannah Monitor Short-horned Lizard Sidewinder Sidewinder (snake) Slow worm Smooth Snake Southeastern five-lined Skink Southern Alligator Lizard Southern Black Racer Southern Sagebrush Lizard Speckled Rattlesnake Spectacled Caiman Spiny Soft-shell Turtle Spotted Turtle Stump-tailed Skink Texas Alligator Lizard Texas Banded Gecko Texas Blind Snake Texas Garter Snake Texas Horned Lizard Texas Indigo Snake Texas Night Snake Texas Spiny Lizard Texas Tortoise Tiger Snake Timor Monitor (Spotted Tree Monitor) Tree Lizard Turks and Caicos Rock Iguana Veiled Chameleon Veiled Chameleon Water dragon Water Monitor Western Blind Snake Western Diamondback Rattlesnake Western Fence Lizard Western Green Mamba Western Hognose Snake Western Skink Yellow Sea Snake (Pelagic Sea Snake) Yellow-spotted tropical night lizard Yellow-throated day gecko Zebra-tailed Lizard

Latest Thoughts

Chameleon


Credit: Wikipedia
Download full size image

Chameleons are small to mid-size reptiles that belong to one of the best known lizard families (Chamaeleonidae). They are famous for their ability to change their color also because of their elongated tongue and their eyes which can be moved independently of each other. The name "Chameleon" means "earth lion" and is derived from the Greek words chamai (on the ground, on the earth) and leon (lion).

Distribution and habitat

The main distribution of Chameleons is Africa and Madagascar, although some species are also found in parts of southern Europe, Sri Lanka, India and Asia Minor. Different members of this family inhabit all kinds of biotopes like tropical and mountain rain forests, savannahs and sometimes semideserts and steppes. Chameleons are mostly arboreal and are often found on smaller bushes and shrubs rather than on taller trees. Some species, however, live on the ground under foliage.

Behavior

All Chameleon species are diurnal. Their main activity is in the morning and in the evening. Chameleons are not active hunters but rather sit motionless for hours and wait for a prey to pass by. They mainly feed on different arthropods and small vertebrates. Chameleons live mostly solitary and are quite aggressive toward other members of the same species.

Change of color

Some Chameleon species are able to change their body color, which makes them one of the most famous lizard families. Contrary to popular belief, this change of color is not an adaptation to the surroundings but rather an expression of the physical and physiological condition of the lizard. The skin color is changed under influence of mood, light and temperature and also plays an important part in communication and rivalry fights.

Chameleons have specialized cells that lie in two layers under the chameleon's transparent outer skin. These cells in the upper layer, which are called chromatophores, contain yellow and red pigments. Below these chromatophores is another cell layer. Cells of this layer are called guanophores and they contain the colorless crystaline substance guanin. These guanophores reflect amongst others the blue part of incident light. If the upper layer of chromatophores is yellow, the reflected light becomes green (blue plus yellow). A layer of dark melanin containing melanophores is situated even deeper under the blue and white light reflecting guanophores.These melanophores influence the lightness of the reflected light. All these different pigment cells can relocate their pigments, thereby influencing the color of light which is reflected.