Mediterranean chameleon
The Common chameleon is a slow-moving lizard, with independently movable eyes, the ability to change skin coloration, a long tongue, usually a prehensile tail, and special leg adaptations for grasping vegetation. The color of the Common chameleon is variable, between yellow/brown through green to a dark brown. Whatever the background color is, the chameleon will have two light-colored lines along its side. It has a small beard of scales and some small hard scales on the top of its back. Females of this species are often substantially larger than males.
Common chameleons are found in southwestern Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. They inhabit pine forests, shrubland, plantations, and rural gardens.
Common chameleons are usually solitary maintaining a territory and only tolerating members of the opposite sex during the mating season. They are arboreal spending their time scrambling about in trees and bushes with feet that have five toes, in groups of two or three on each side for grasping branches. They also use their prehensile tail to maintain balance and stability. They usually move leisurely, often with a slight swaying motion to avoid detection by predators. They, however, can move more rapidly when involved in a territorial dispute. They hunt by day capturing insects by stealth and the rapid extension of their long tongue which has a terminal pad that grasps and adheres to the prey. Common chameleons change their color as a response to light and temperature stimuli and as an expression of their emotions (like chameleon body language). Their colors are also important for communication between each other, especially during the mating season.
Common chameleons are carnivores (insectivorous) feeding on various insects. Adults are also known to eat young chameleons and have been observed to eat fruit.
Common chameleons breed from mid-July to mid-September. During this time they typically descend to lowers levels of vegetation or to the ground to search for a mate. Females produce one clutch of between 5 and 45 eggs per year; however, larger females produce more eggs and are more attracted to males who will fight over a female. The eggs are laid in the soil and take from 10 to 12 months to incubate. Hatchlings are independent at birth and become reproductively mature within their first year.
Common chameleons are common throughout most of their range and are not considered endangered. However, they are threatened locally by habitat loss, principally through urban development, the intensification of agriculture, predation by domestic animals, illegal collection for the pet trade, and roadkill mortality. In Turkey, they often suffer from wildfires.
The IUCN Red List and other sources don’t provide the number of the Common chameleon total population size. Currently, this species is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List and its numbers today are stable.
