Creature Feature #91: Chameleon

The Chameleon is a colourful lizard found in warm environs - from deserts to rainforest. There are over 150 species ranging in length from 15 mm to 685mm. Males are often adorned with helmets, horns and in general, are more ornamental than the females. The Chameleon is famed for his colour changing abilities, which are linked to environment - for camouflage purposes, but also visually declare his emotion and act as a social signal to other individuals. He is a slow moving insectivore, with his five toes fused into two groups enabling him to clamp onto the branches. His eye-lids are joined, allowing only a small pinhole of eye to see through.  Both eyes can rotate independently, and he uses these to hone in on his prey before whipping out his tongue and gripping it.