The Indian chameleon (''Chamaeleo zeylanicus'') is a species of

chameleon Chameleons or chamaeleons (family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 202 species described as of June 2015. The members of this family are best known for their distinct range of colors, bein ...

found in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

, and other parts of

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;; ...

. Like other chameleons, this species has a long tongue, feet that are shaped into bifid claspers, a

prehensile tail A prehensile tail is the tail of an animal that has adapted to grasp or hold objects. Fully prehensile tails can be used to hold and manipulate objects, and in particular to aid arboreal creatures in finding and eating food in the trees. If the t ...

, independent eye movement, and the ability to change skin colour. They move slowly with a bobbing or swaying movement and are usually arboreal. Strangely, they do not choose the background colour and may not even be able to perceive colour differences. They are usually in shades of green or brown or with bands. They can change colour rapidly and the primary purpose of colour change is for communication with other chameleons and for controlling body temperature by changing to dark colours to absorb heat. Chamaeleo zeylanicus

Distribution

They are found throughout much of

south of the

Ganges River The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

, southeasternmost

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, and parts of

. This makes them widely geographically separated from all other chameleons, which inhabit

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, the Indian Ocean islands near Africa, southern

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, and the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plat ...

. Phylogenetic evidence suggests that this unusual distribution is the consequence of

oceanic dispersal Oceanic dispersal is a type of biological dispersal that occurs when terrestrial organisms transfer from one land mass to another by way of a sea crossing. Island hopping is the crossing of an ocean by a series of shorter journeys between isla ...

to India from Arabia during the mid-

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

. The type locality is

, restricted by Mertens in 1969.

Description

The head has a bony casque, ornamented with crests or tubercles. A separation between the eyes, the interorbital septum, is present. Its dentition is

acrodont Acrodonty (from Greek ''akros'' 'highest' + ''dont'' 'tooth') is an anatomical placement of the teeth at the summit of the alveolar ridge of the jaw, without sockets, characteristic of bony fish. Functionally, acrodont tooth implantation may be rela ...

; the teeth are compressed, triangular, and more or less distinctly tricuspid. The palate is toothless. The eyes are large, covered by a thick, granular lids pierced with a small central opening for the pupil. No tympanum or external ear is present. The body is compressed, and the neck is very short. The vertebrae are procoelian; abdominal ribs are present. The limbs are long, raising the body. The digits are arranged in bundles of two and three; in the hand, the inner bundle is formed of three, the outer of two digits; it is the reverse in the foot. The tail is

prehensile Prehensility is the quality of an appendage or organ that has adapted for grasping or holding. The word is derived from the Latin term ''prehendere'', meaning "to grasp". The ability to grasp is likely derived from a number of different orig ...

. The head and body are covered with granules or tubercles. The casque is much elevated posteriorly, with a strong curved parietal crest; the distance between the commissure of the mouth and the extremity of the casque equals or nearly equals the distance between the end of the snout and the hinder extremity of the mandible; no rostral appendages occur; a strong lateral crest, not reaching the end of the parietal crest, is present; an indication of a dermal occipital lobe is found on each side, not reaching the parietal crest. No enlarged tubercles occur on the body; a feebly serrated dorsal crest is present; a series of conical tubercles form a very distinct crest along the throat and belly. Males have a tarsal process or spur, the tail is longer than head and body. The gular-ventral crest and the commissure of the mouth are white.Boulenger, G. A. 1890 Fauna of British India. Reptilia and Batrachia. From snout to vent, it is up to 7 in long, with a prehensile tail of 8 in.

Notes

References

* Barry, A.T. 1936 The Common Chamaeleon (''Chamaeleon zeylanicus'') in Gujarat J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 38: 201-202 * Gray, J. E. 1865 Revision of the genera and species of Chamaeleonidae, with the description of some new species. Proc. zool. Soc. London, 1864: 465-479. * Laurenti, J. N. 1768 Specimen medicum, exhibens synopsin reptilium emendatam cum experimentis circa venena et antidota reptilium austracorum, quod authoritate et consensu. Vienna, Joan. Thomae, 217 pp. * Singh, L. A. K. (1979): To change is chameleon. Science Reporter, 16 (1) : 59-61. * Singh, L. A. K., Acharjyo, L. N., Bustard, H. R. (1984) : Observation on the reproductive biology of the Indian chameleon, Chamaeleo zeylanicus (Laurenti). J.Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 81(1) : 86-92. * Singh, L. A. K. (1986): The Indian chameleon, Chamaeleo zeylanicus (Laurenti) in Satkoshia Gorge Sanctuary, Orissa : Notes on availability, growth and biometrics. J.Bombay nat.Hist. Soc., 83(1), 111-119.

External links

*
Sri Lankan Reptiles @ The University of Peradeniya Department of Zoology
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2700540 Reptiles of India Reptiles of Sri Lanka Reptiles of Pakistan Chamaeleo Fauna of South Asia Reptiles described in 1768 Taxa named by Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti