The chameleon is this colorful and fascinating little reptile that lives in the jungle, in fact, it is one of the most interesting creatures of the animal kingdom, they are well known for having unusual features and impressive physical attributes, such as color change.
This chromatic quality is not the only thing exclusive to chameleons, everything exists in them for some reason, their habits, their body and even their behavior.
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- In Animal Expert we invite you to read this article about curiosities about chameleons.
There are about 160 species of chameleons on planet Earth and they are all special and unique.Most chameleon species live on the island of Madagascar, especially 60 species, which are very fond of the climate of this island located in the Indian Ocean.
The remaining species extend throughout Africa, reaching southern Europe and South Asia to the island of Sri Lanka, however, you can also see species of chameleons living in the United States (Hawaii, California and Florida).
The chameleon is a beautiful type of lizard that is endangered by the loss of its habitat and its sale blind, being considered by some people as a pet.
Chameleons have unique and perfect eyes, they have such good vision that they can see small insects at a distance of up to 5 mm, their vision arcs are so developed that they can zoom out up to 360 degrees and see in two directions at the same time without being disoriented or lose concentration.
Each eye is like a camera, it can rotate and focus separately, as if each has its own personality.During hunting, both eyes have the ability to focus in the same direction giving the perception of stereoscopic depth.
A chemical called melanin causes chameleons to change color, this ability is surprising, most of them go from brown to green in 20 seconds, but some change to other colors, melanin fibers spread throughout the body like a web, through pigment cells., and his presence in the chameleon’s body makes him blacken.
Males are more colorful and have multicolored patterns when competing for the attention of a female.Chameleons are born with special cells of different colors distributed in different layers of the skin.
The interesting thing is that they change color not only to camouflage themselves with their environment, but also when they change mood, light varies or the ambient and body temperature, the color transition helps them identify and communicate with each other.
The language of chameleons is longer than that of their own bodies, in fact they can measure twice as much, they have a tongue that works thanks to a rapid projection effect to catch prey at certain distances.
This impact can occur at 0.07 seconds from the time it comes out of the mouth.The tip of the tongue is a ball of muscle that, when it reaches the prey, takes the form and function of a small suction cup.
Chameleon males are the most “classified” of the relationship.On a physical level, they are more complex and beautiful than females, and even have ornamental shapes on their bodies, such as bills, horns and protruding nostrils that they use during certain tusks.Females are generally simpler.
Chameleons have no inner or middle ear, so they have no eardrum or opening to let in the sound, however, they are not deaf, these small animals can detect sound frequencies in the range of 200-00 Hz.
As for vision, chameleons can see both visible light and ultraviolet light; when exposed to ultraviolet light, they are more likely to have social activity and reproduce, as this type of light has a positive effect on the pineal gland.
It is the smallest of these animals, the leaf chameleon, is one of the smallest vertebrates ever discovered, can measure up to 16 mm and sit comfortably on the head of a match.It’s also interesting to know that most chameleons grow everywhere.their lives and they’re not like skin-changing snakes, they change skin in different parts.
Chameleons have a solitary character, in fact, it turns out that females repel males quite often to the point of preventing them from approaching.
When the female allows, the male approaches to mate, male chameleons with brighter and brighter colors have more opportunities than males with more sober colors, most enjoy their total solitude until the arrival of the mating season.
Chameleons love to sleep suspended as if they were doing inverted yoga poses, and these fascinating animals have a spectacular balance that helps them climb trees quite easily, use their hands and tails to strategically distribute their weight as they move from one tree or fragile branch to another.
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