chameleon

(pronunciation: the letters ‘ch’ are said with a ‘K’ sound)

an animal – reptile – (= crawling, cold-blooded) related to lizards; small with rough (granular) skin covered with scales, not just skin; slow-moving, lives in trees and bushes; grows to 1 inch to 2 feet long with a long tail and crests, horns or spines on their heads; weight varies from a few grams to half a kilogram; feeds on (eats) insects, such as locusts, mantis, crickets, grasshoppers, (larger kinds) small birds and other lizards; lives for about 8 to 12 years in the wild; about 160 species (kinds) found in Africa, including Madagascar, southern Europe and Asia

Some common names of different kinds of chameleon are: veiled chameleon, Meller’s chameleon, tiger chameleon, dwarf chameleon, Decary’s pygmy chameleon, dead leaf chameleon, short-honrned chameleon, nosy chameleon, hooded chameleon, jewelled chameleon, elephant eared chameleon, Jackson’s chameleon, Ethiopian mountain chameleon, smooth chameleon, spiny or warty chameleon, Angel’s chameleon, etc.

Special Features:

crest on the head

A chameleon is the nature’s marvel; everything about it is amazing.

It is one of the popular pets found in many homes in many parts of the world.

horned chameleon

Most of the kinds have crests, horns or spines (= extra growth) on their heads which make them look dangerous, but in fact, chameleons are harmless animals.

The upper and lower eyelids of a chameleon’s large, bulging eyes are joined with only a small hole large enough for the pupil of the eye to see through.

protective eye-lid

Chameleons can turn and focus their eyes separately, i.e. they can see one thing with one eye and another thing with the other eye at the same time, and look back without turning their heads, which gives them the 360 degree 3D vision, and once they see an insect, they can focus both eyes on that insect!

The tongue of a chameleon is longer than the rest of its body: a 20 inch veiled chameleon has a 30 inch long tongue!

long sticky tongue

And the tongue has a sticky blob at the tip of it with which it can “shoot” at an insect in about 30 thousandth of a second. (That is the reason why people cannot see a chameleon catch an insect with its tongue.) And the blob at the tip forms a suction cup around the insect once it touches it making it impossible for that insect to escape!

Each of its four feet has five toes, but the toes are fused (joined) into two or three toes giving the chameleon a firm grip (hold) on the thin branches it lives in.

Its tail is long and used as a fifth foot, winding around a branch of the tree and giving the chameleon a strong hold and good balance even on thin branches.

Chameleons shed (drop) their skin from time to time, as the snakes do, and as it is rich in protein, the chameleons eat them up immediately after shedding!

The most interesting feature about the chameleon is its ability to change its colour.  Until recently, it was believed that chameleons change their colour to suit the surroundings they live in (camouflage = changing colour to suit the surroundings)  to escape from their predators (= the other animals which eat chameleons), but now we know that though the feature of changing colour is used partly to keep themselves safe from their predators, the main purpose is to show its moods – physical and mental condition – to warn off the enemies; to show that they are angry or upset; to communicate with other chameleons or to attract the mates!

They also communicate via vibrations through tree branches.  Though they have no ears, they can feel the vibrations through the branches and can see the colours of the other chameleons to understand their moods.

Figures of Speech:

1.

chameleon (noun)  =

(a)  a person who changes his/her behaviour, opinion, etc. to suit the situation very quickly or readily

(b)  a person who is changeable and unfaithful in his/her feelings, behaviour, support, opinion, etc.

(c)  a small constellation in southern polar region (‘constellation’ = an imaginary formation of the stars in the sky in the shape of a person, animal or thing)

2.

to live on air like the chameleon [said of a person who seems to live (survive) without eating anything – a popular belief, a wrong idea, perhaps got from the speed with which the chameleon flicks up insects, which, to the human eye, seems to be just snapping at the air]

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