| Chameleons Temporal range: Early Miocene – present, Middle Paleocene origins
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|---|---|
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| Clockwise from top left: Chamaeleo chamaeleon, Calumma parsonii, Chamaeleo namaquensis, Trioceros jacksonii, Furcifer pardalis and Brookesia micra | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Iguania |
| Clade: | Acrodonta |
| Family: | Chamaeleonidae Rafinesque, 1815 |
| Genera | |
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| Native range of Chamaeleonidae | |
Chameleons or chamaeleons (family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 200 species described as of June 2015.[1] The members of this family are best known for their distinct range of colours, being capable of colour-shifting camouflage. The large number of species in the family exhibit considerable variability in their capacity to change colour. For some, it is more of a shift of brightness (shades of brown); for others, a plethora of colour-combinations (reds, yellows, greens, blues) can be seen.
Chameleons are also distinguished by their zygodactylous feet, their prehensile tail, their literally compressed bodies, their head casques, their projectile tongues used for catching prey, their swaying gait,[2] and in some species crests or horns on their brow and snout. Chameleons' eyes are independently mobile, and because of this the chameleon’s brain is constantly analyzing two separate, individual images of its environment. When hunting prey, the eyes focus forward in coordination, affording the animal stereoscopic vision.
Chameleons are diurnal and adapted for visual hunting of invertebrates, mostly insects, although the large species also can catch small vertebrates. Chameleons typically are arboreal, but there are also many species that live on the ground. The arboreal species use their prehensile tail as an extra anchor point when they are moving or resting in trees or bushes; because of this, their tail is often referred to as a "fifth limb". Depending on species, they range from rainforest to desert conditions and from lowlands to highlands, with the vast majority occurring in Africa (about half of the species are restricted to Madagascar), but with a single species in southern Europe, and a few across southern Asia as far east as India and Sri Lanka. They have been introduced to Hawaii and Florida.[1][3]
- ^ a b Glaw, F. (2015). "Taxonomic checklist of chameleons (Squamata: Chamaeleonidae)". Vertebrate Zoology. 65 (2): 167–246. doi:10.3897/vz.65.e31518.
- ^ Edmonds, Patricia (September 2015). "True colours". National Geographic: 98.
- ^ Daly, Natasha (2017). "Inside the Secretive World of Florida's Chameleon Catchers". National Geographic. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020.