There are more than 160 species of chameleons in the world. Half of them can be found on the island of Madagascar. In this case, about 60 species of this reptile live only on this island.
Most chameleons change their color from brown to green and vice versa, but some of these reptiles are able to take color of any color. Color change can occur in just 20 seconds. This miracle occurs due to special pigment-containing cells, which are called chromatophores.
Chameleons are able to see in the literal sense everything that happens around them, because their angle of view is 360 degrees. In addition, their eyes can simultaneously look in different directions. If necessary, both eyes can focus on one object, allowing reptiles to clearly see small insects at a distance of up to 10 meters.
The sizes of chameleons of different species vary greatly. Some of the smallest reptiles on the planet are males of the Brookesia micra species, whose length can be only 15 millimeters. But males of the species Furcifer oustaleti can grow up to 68.5 centimeters.
The “ballistic” language of chameleons is longer than the length of their body (without taking into account the tail) in 1,5-2 times. The reptile shoots the tongue in prey. This tactical maneuver takes only about 0.07 seconds. Do you think a lot of insects have a chance?
Usually the body of males looks more unusual than the body of females. For example, males of some species of chameleons can boast of the likeness of horns on their heads.
As we have already seen, with the eyes of these reptiles everything is more than perfect, but with hearing they were much less fortunate. Like snakes, chameleons do not have an external and middle ear, so they do not hear as good as they do. However, we can not say that they are deaf. Their hearing is limited to a range of frequencies from 200 to 600 hertz.
Chameleons can see in the ultraviolet range. These reptiles like ultraviolet radiation, in the presence of which they behave much more actively.
There are more than 160 species of chameleons in the world. Half of them can be found on the island of Madagascar. In this case, about 60 species of this reptile live only on this island.
