Chameleons or chamaeleons are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 200 species described as of June 2015. The members of this family are best known for their distinct range of colors, being capable of shifting to different hues and degrees of brightness. The large number of species in the family exhibit considerable variability in their capacity to change color. For some, it is more of a shift of brightness ; for others, a plethora of color-combinations can be seen.
Calumma is a genus of chameleon endemic and restricted to the island of Madagascar, some 400 kilometres off of the coast of southeastern Africa in the western Indian Ocean. The genus includes one of the heaviest and longest chameleon species, Parson’s chameleon. One species, formerly known as Calumma tigris, was later transferred to the genus Archaius by Townsend et al., upon the discovery of its closer relation to Rieppeleon—one of several genera referred to collectively as “leaf” or “pygmy” chameleons—rather than to Calumma. The earliest known fossil of the genus is of Calumma benovskyi, from early Miocene Kenya, showing that the genus likely originated on mainland East Africa.
Chamaeleo is a genus of chameleons in the family Chamaeleonidae. Most species of the genus Chamaeleo are found in sub-Saharan Africa, but a few species are also present in northern Africa, southern Europe, and southern Asia east to India and Sri Lanka.
Fischer's chameleon, also known commonly as the Nguru blade-horned chameleon and the Nguru two-horned chameleon, is a species of chameleon, a lizard in the family Chamaeleonidae. The species is endemic to Tanzania.
Iguania is an infraorder of squamate reptiles that includes iguanas, chameleons, agamids, and New World lizards like anoles and phrynosomatids. Using morphological features as a guide to evolutionary relationships, the Iguania are believed to form the sister group to the remainder of the Squamata, which comprise nearly 11,000 named species, roughly 2000 of which are iguanians. However, molecular information has placed Iguania well within the Squamata as sister taxa to the Anguimorpha and closely related to snakes. The order has been under debate and revisions after being classified by Charles Lewis Camp in 1923 due to difficulties finding adequate synapomorphic morphological characteristics. Most Iguanias are arboreal but there are several terrestrial groups. They usually have primitive fleshy, non-prehensile tongues, although the tongue is highly modified in chameleons. The group has a fossil record that extends back to the Early Jurassic. Today they are scattered occurring in Madagascar, the Fiji and Friendly Islands and Western Hemisphere.
Kinyongia is a chameleon genus recently established for several plesiomorphic species found in forest and woodland in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and far eastern DR Congo. All except K. adolfifriderici and K. tavetana are restricted to highlands, and many have very small geographic ranges. In most, at least the males have horns or knobs on their noses. They had been placed into the genus Bradypodion for some time. It has recently been pointed out that the ending to the specific epithet in several of the below listed species should be modified to match the feminine genus name.
Labord's chameleon is a semelparous species of chameleon, a lizard in the family Chamaeleonidae. The species is endemic to Madagascar.
Brookesia peyrierasi is a species of diminutive chameleon, a lizard in the family Chamaeleonidae. The species is endemic to north-eastern Madagascar. It is known commonly as Peyrieras's pygmy chameleon, named after the herpetologist André Peyriéras.
Brookesia minima,, is a diminutive chameleon that was regarded as the smallest lizard of the Chamaeleonidae until a smaller species, Brookesia nana, was described in 2021.
Chamaeleo caroliquarti is an extinct species of chameleon from Lower Miocene-aged strata of the Czech Republic. C. caroliquarti is the oldest known representative of Chamaeleo, and, if the middle Paleocene-aged Anqingosaurus is not a chameleon, the oldest known chameleon.
Kinyongia carpenteri, commonly called Carpenter's chameleon or the helmeted chameleon, is a species of chameleon, a lizard in the family Chamaeleonidae. The species is native to central Africa.
Furcifer nicosiai is a large species of chameleon, a lizard in the family Chamaeleonidae. The species is endemic to western Madagascar. Described as new to science in 1999, it was ranked as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It has only been found in the Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park at levels of 57 and 571 metres above mean sea level.
Brookesia bonsi is a species of chameleons, a lizard in the family Chamaeleonidae. The species is endemic to Madagascar, and was initially described by Guy A. Ramanantsoa in 1980. The International Union for Conservation of Nature ranked this species as Critically Endangered.
Brookesia lambertoni, commonly known as the Fito leaf chameleon, is a species of chameleon, a lizard in the family Chamaeleonidae. The species is endemic to Fito in eastern Madagascar. It was first described in 1970 by Édouard-Raoul Brygoo and Charles Antoine Domergue. It is rated as Data Deficient (DD) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), as not enough data on the species have been collected to judge its conservation status.
Vences's chameleon is a species of lizard in the family Chamaeleonidae. The species is endemic to Madagascar.
Acrodonta are a subclade of iguanian squamates consisting almost entirely of Old World taxa. Extant representation include the families Chamaeleonidae (chameleons) and Agamidae, with at least over 500 species described. A fossil genus, Gueragama, was found in Brazil, making it the only known American representative of the group.
Rhampholeon beraduccii, also known commonly as Beraducci's pygmy chameleon or the Mahenge pygmy chameleon, is a species of lizard in the family Chamaeleonidae. The species is endemic to Tanzania.
Trioceros chapini, also known commonly as Chapin's chameleon, the gray chameleon, and the grey chameleon, is a species of lizard in the family Chamaeleonidae. The species is native to Central Africa.
Trioceros ellioti, also known commonly as Elliot's chameleon, Elliot's groove-throated chameleon, and the montane side-striped chameleon, is a species of lizard in the family Chamaeleonidae. The species is indigenous to Africa.
Trioceros feae, also known commonly as the Bioko montane chameleon and Fea's chameleon, is a species of lizard in the family Chamaeleonidae. The species is endemic to the island of Bioko.
