Chameleon life in nature. Chameleon: description, types of what they eat

The chameleon is one of the most interesting lizards in the world. It frightens and delights, surprises and fascinates. He's like a being from another planet. Amazing, mysterious, bizarre, exotic…It is absurd and fantastically beautiful at the same time. Chameleons are known to people mainly due to their unusual ability .

Chameleons live in only a few places on the planet, namely in Africa, India, the Arabian Peninsula, the Mediterranean, the island of Madagascar, and also in Sri Lanka. The real kingdom of the descendants of dinosaurs is located in East Africa. 1/3 of all chameleons in the world live here. Most often they can be found in tropical forests and savannas, less often in deserts and steppes.

Although chameleons (lat. Chamaeleonidae) belong to the lizard family, they have little in common with them. The body of the chameleons is flattened on the sides, the arched back is decorated with a crest, which makes the reptiles seem to be forever hunched. In some species, the head of a bizarre pyramidal shape is crowned with a crest, while others have outgrowths on the muzzle that resemble horns. True, males can boast of such decorations for the most part, in females they are less pronounced.

What part of the chameleon we did not undertake to consider, it will be unusual.

The chameleon's secret weapon is the tongue

Scientists struggled with the phenomenon of the chameleon tongue for many years, until they managed to capture it with a super-fast camera. It turns out that the chameleon charges its tongue with energy in advance, at the stage of preparation for the shot. Starting the hunt, the reptile gives the tongue a shape that contributes to acceleration. Just imagine, the acceleration of the tongue of a chameleon when ejected is more than 250 times the acceleration of free fall! Scientists even called the language of the chameleon the most perfect, efficient and at the same time easy to control “catapult”. To reach the victim, the language of the reptile needs only 1/20 of a second. In 3 seconds, the animal is able to catch four insects.

The tongue of a chameleon is extremely powerful with cartilage on the inside and a bit sticky at the tip. In the mouth of a reptile, it folds like a spring. When the chameleon aims at the prey, it sticks out the tip of the tongue a little, as if inflating a bubble from a chewing gum and shoots sharply at the prey. It happens, of course, that it misses, but in most cases the clarity of the aiming does not fail.

Was also seen interesting feature: the smaller the chameleon itself, the “faster” and longer its tongue relative to the length of the body. This is explained by the fact that "microchameleons" constantly need to replenish the body with food and energy, they have no right to make a mistake while hunting.

It should be noted that the tongue of a chameleon can be injured. It happens that during the hunt, the reptile bites its tongue.

Mysterious chameleon eyes

Chameleons have a completely unique visual apparatus and extraordinary eyes: they are able to rotate 360 degrees independently of each other and can focus on two objects at once.
Chameleon sees everything and everywhere. Are the eyes of a chameleon independent of each other, in other words, do they live a separate life? This question was asked by Israeli scientists. As a result of the experiments, it turned out that the eyes of a reptile do not always move independently of each other, as previously thought, but are able to focus on one object. The reptile can follow two objects at the same time, but once the chameleon chooses a target to shoot, both eyes focus on it. Scientists believe that such a vision device helps chameleons hunt more successfully and calculate the exact distance to the victim.

In arid and food-poor areas, each "miss" reduces the chances of survival. Important feature chameleon - accuracy: consider the victim and estimate the distance to it. This is facilitated by the design of the eyes, which not only move independently of each other, but in addition, each eye can be used as optical sight or a sighting tube that determines the distance. Armed in this way, the eye accurately determines the distance to the victim due to the focusing of the image. Most likely, this is due to the accommodation of the eye up to 45 diopters. To do this, lizards in the process of evolution improved the lens of the eye with the so-called scattering lens. Now it not only enlarges the image of the prey on the retina, but also gives a greater depth of field than in vertebrates with conventional converging lenses.

Due to the fact that the eyes of the reptile almost completely close the fused eyelids, leaving only a small hole for the pupil in the center, they appear convex and resemble telescopic tubes.

In general, the eyes are a problematic place for chameleons. Most of the diseases in these animals are associated with the eyes. Because of the narrow palpebral fissure, eye infections are difficult to treat. They are very sensitive, often injured. Therefore, there should be no sharp branches in the terrarium, otherwise the chameleon can damage the eyes.

Attraction of a chameleon - tail

Looking at the chameleon to the tip of the tail, one cannot help but notice how beautifully he twists it into a spiral. Thick at the base and tapering towards the tip, the tail serves as the chameleon's fifth leg (or hand?). He can tightly wrap his tail around any object on which he sits. The tail supports the weight of the chameleon's body: the reptile can hang on the branches of trees, catching on with a spirally twisted tail.

Another unusual thing about chameleons is that they do not have ears, although these reptiles can perceive sounds at a frequency of 200 to 600 hertz.

Fancy dancing chameleon

The paws of a chameleon are also not quite ordinary. At first glance, it may seem that these reptiles are two-toed creatures. In fact, they have 5 fingers on each paw, but in the course of evolution they have grown together 2 and 3. Pay attention to how tenacious and dexterous their paws are. They can even be compared with claws, with the help of which it is very convenient for the animal to move along the branches.

The movements of reptiles are peculiar. Slowly moving forward one front paw and strengthening it, the chameleon releases the end of the tail, with which it was held by the branch. Which of the other limbs the animal will move after the first one can only be assumed, since the reptile uses its paws out of any sequence. Then alternately move, for example, both right paws, in other cases, the front and hind legs opposite sides.

Sitting on a branch, the reptile freezes, while slowly rolling its eyes. Then the animal smoothly raises one hind and one front paws into the air and begins to rock back and forth rhythmically. Having taken a step and again frozen in place, the reptile raises the other pair of legs and continues to sway. At the same time, the eyes also perform their “dance”, rotating up, down, forward and backward. The nature of such movements is not entirely clear, but scientists suggest that these are signal gestures designed to recognize individuals of the same species from each other.

It seems that the chameleon is a slow and clumsy animal, but this is only an appearance. Limited by the size of the terrarium, he cannot demonstrate how fast he can move.

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Chameleons are a family of scaly lizards that stand out against the background of other species with a number of very unusual features that are unique to them.

The name "chameleon" has very ancient roots: in the mythology of some countries it was called strange creature, which could quickly change its appearance.

general characteristics

On this moment 193 species of these unusual lizards are known, for most of them the island of Madagascar is their homeland. The remaining members of the family live in Africa, in the extreme south and extreme north of the Arabian Peninsula, on the western coast of India, as well as on small islands in Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. More recently, several new species of chameleons living in the steppes of California and Florida have been discovered, which has led scientists to confusion.

Trees are the natural habitat of chameleons; they live, sleep, and hunt on branches. Only a few species decided to move to the ground and now live in forests, African savannahs, steppes and deserts.

Chameleons are medium-sized lizards, their body length ranges from 17 to 30 cm. However, there are exceptions: the Madagascar Chamaeleo oustaleti grows up to 60 centimeters or more, and representatives of the genus Brookesia are not only the smallest chameleons, but also one of the smallest reptiles on Earth - only 1.3-4.5 centimeters.

The body of chameleons is strongly flattened on the sides and in many species resembles an oval in shape. Males have various formations on their heads: horns, crests, drills. In females, these "decorations" are either rudimentary or do not appear at all. The limbs are long, adapted for climbing trees. The fingers of chameleons are more like claws - grouped in 2-3 and covered with a solid skin along the penultimate phalanges, they are directed in opposite directions. This shape of the fingers is great for climbing tree branches. The tail often functions as a fifth limb; lizards can wrap themselves around branches with it.

Change in body color

This unique ability has glorified chameleons all over the world and made them probably the most popular lizard. Which, in principle, is not strange, because few people are able to change their appearance so dramatically, and even do it so quickly. The secret of this amazing ability of chameleons lies in the special structure of the skin. The skin is made up of several separate layers, which differ in structure from each other. The uppermost layer is transparent and serves to refract light, and also performs a protective function. The deeper skin layers contain special cells - chromatophores, which contain pigments of different colors (black, dark brown, red and yellow), and in each layer there are chromatophores of a different color. During the contraction of the chromatophores, the concentration of colored pigments in the center of the cell occurs in them. Because of what, the color of the skin of the lizard changes. A color scheme different layers gives the chameleon different color shades.

There is a color change very quickly - less than half a minute. Interestingly, chameleons can change the color of not only the entire body, but also individual parts, such as the eyelids or tail.

But what causes a chameleon to quickly change its color? It was previously believed that this feature is needed by lizards primarily for camouflage against the background. environment. However, recent studies have shown that a color change for a chameleon is primarily a means of communication with its own kind, and not a means of protection and disguise.

Also, a change in color can be provoked by many other factors of external (high or low temperature, bright light) and internal (fear, irritation, hunger) origin.

Separately, it is worth mentioning the reaction of a chameleon during a threat - the body of the lizard swells up, slightly increasing in size, the body acquires a formidable black (less often dark brown) color, and at the same time it also hisses like a snake.

vision device

The device of the eyes of a chameleon is also of no small interest. Their eyes are quite large and complex, they are covered with a continuous eyelid, in which there is only a small hole for the pupil. However, this did not prevent the chameleon from acquiring the most accurate vision focusing system among lizards. Thanks to this, lizards are incredibly capable of determining the distance to the objects around them, and they see objects at a very close distance from the eye just as clearly.

Another very interesting feature is that the eyes of the reptile master of disguise are able to move independently of each other, so, for example, the left eye can look forward, and the right eye back or to the right. Thanks to this, the animal receives a picture with a viewing angle of 360 degrees.

Ideal Language

At the first glance at a chameleon, thoughts like: how can such a slow and clumsy animal feed itself, and indeed survive in this world, begin to come to mind? But with a closer acquaintance with him, these questions begin to disappear. Yes, he does not look like a successful predator, but he is. The chameleon knows how to perfectly disguise and wait, and its unique vision allows you to see literally everything that happens around. All that's left is the catching tool (murder weapon, if you will). That tool is language.

According to researchers and scientists, the language of a chameleon is the most advanced "catapult" in the world, it is incredibly efficient, simple and also easy to control. Quote: "She has no analogues either in biology or in mechanics" - this is an ideal fishing tool!

We will not go into details of the “miracle of language” device (because you can find a lot of publications on this topic on the Internet), just list its key features:
- the tongue can "shoot" at a distance of one and a half body length of the lizard and catch the victim with the help of a special sucker;
- it takes one twentieth of a second for a tongue to reach an insect!
- in 3 seconds a chameleon can catch 4 insects with its tongue!
- Tongue acceleration is an incredible 50g!

Chameleons are a family of scaly lizards that stand out against the background of other species with a number of very unusual features that are unique to them.

The name "" has very ancient roots: in the mythology of some countries, this was the name of a strange creature that could quickly change its appearance.

general characteristics

At the moment, 193 species of these unusual lizards are known, for most of them the island is home to Madagascar. The remaining members of the family live in Africa, in the extreme south and extreme north of the Arabian Peninsula, on the western coast of India, as well as on small islands in the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. More recently, several new species of chameleons living in the steppes of California and Florida have been discovered, which has led scientists to confusion.

Trees are the natural habitat of chameleons; they live, sleep, and hunt on branches. Only a few species decided to move to the ground and now live in forests, African savannahs, steppes and deserts.

Change in body color

This unique ability has glorified chameleons all over the world and made them probably the most popular lizard. Which, in principle, is not strange, because few people are able to change their appearance so dramatically, and even do it so quickly. The secret of this amazing ability of chameleons lies in the special structure of the skin. The skin is made up of several separate layers, which differ in structure from each other. The uppermost layer is transparent and serves to refract light, and also performs a protective function. The deeper layers of the skin contain special cells - chromatophores, which contain pigments of different colors (black, dark brown, red and yellow), and in each layer there are chromatophores of a different color. During the contraction of the chromatophores, the concentration of colored pigments in the center of the cell occurs in them. Because of what, the color of the skin of the lizard changes. The combination of colors of different layers gives the chameleon different color shades.

There is a color change very quickly - less than half a minute. Interestingly, chameleons can change the color of not only the entire body, but also individual parts, such as the eyelids or tail.

But what causes a chameleon to quickly change its color? It was previously believed that this feature is needed by lizards primarily for camouflage against the background of the environment. However, recent studies have shown that a color change for a chameleon is primarily a means of communication with its own kind, and not a means of protection and disguise.

Also, a change in color can be provoked by many other factors of external (high or low temperature, bright light) and internal (fear, irritation, hunger) origin.

vision device

Ideal Language

We will not go into details of the “miracle of language” device (because you can find a lot of publications on this topic on the Internet), just list its key features:

the tongue can "shoot" at a distance of one and a half lengths of the lizard's body and catch the victim with the help of a special sucker;
it takes a tongue one twentieth of a second to reach an insect!
In 3 seconds, a chameleon can catch 4 insects with its tongue!
tongue acceleration is an incredible 50g!

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Chameleons belong to the class Reptiles. The average size is 30 centimeters. The largest - from 50 to 60 centimeters, the smallest do not exceed 5 centimeters. They live from 4 to 10 years. They prefer an arboreal lifestyle. Pretty long legs. Chameleons have strange eyesight. They have fused eyelids, enveloping the eyeballs, but leaving holes for the pupils.

They live in Africa, sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar, they can still be in North Africa, Southern Europe, the Middle East, South India, Sri Lanka, California, Florida and Hawaii. They live in the tropics, savannas and deserts. The chameleon feeds on all sorts of insects, snakes, lizards, as well as some berries and vegetables. There is one exception to the diet: a chameleon will never prey on poisonous or stinging creatures such as bees.

The main feature of chameleons

It's time to talk about what these lizards have become famous for. They have a special ability for - changing the color of the body. As a rule, the color of the skin is adjusted to the object next to which they stand. Such a gift was given to them thanks to special cells - chromophores. The color changes due to temperature, light, humidity, hunger, thirst and fear. The purpose of such behavior is to scare off enemies and communicate with their relatives.

Amazing facts about chameleons

The viewing angle of chameleons is equal to all 360 degrees!

The tongue of a chameleon is 2 times longer than the lizard itself.

With the exception of mating, representatives do not want to see each other, which means they are considered loners.

Chameleons - practically worst parents. When the calf is born, adults immediately abandon their babies.

There are no ears, however, there is hearing, only very weak.

Another reason for the change in color is the demonstration of emotions, and not disguise, as many say.

Unlike other reptiles, chameleons do not regenerate their tail when lost.

If chameleons are excited or frightened, they swell up.

When the chameleon sleeps, it does not control the color change.

The word "chameleon" in translation from ancient Greek means "earth lion".

Report 2

Chameleons are reptiles. This reptile knows how to disguise itself with the help of a color estimate.

Chameleon is a small lizard, which is about 20 cm long, but there are individuals and small sizes up to 3 cm. There are about 160 species of chameleons, of which 59 can be found only in Madagascar.

A chameleon can change its color when it senses fear. Since his skin is transparent, and under it there are cells of black, yellow and red colors. When he is afraid nervous system sends a signal to the cells responsible for the color, and the chameleon becomes the same color as the surface on which it is located. The chameleon can only acquire the color of the surface, but not the ornament or pattern.

The chameleon has very interesting eyes, they spin in a circle and have a much larger outlook than a person. When hunting an insect, only his eyes and tongue move when he is already catching his prey.

Chameleon can be kept instead pet, only need to provide proper care and space.

Chameleon at home

A small reptile can be kept in captivity. To do this, you need to buy a medium-sized terrarium.

When buying a chameleon for your home, you need to be aware that not all chameleons can live in captivity. Only three types of reptiles can become inhabitants of the house: Yemeni, leopard and ordinary.

Before choosing a chameleon for your home, you need to find out where it is better to buy and it is advisable to consult with a specialist.

Let's return to the terrarium, it should resemble an exotic forest, then it will be easier for the lizard to acclimatize. The chameleon needs a lot of light; in its natural environment, it loves the sun and its warmth very much. In addition to the furnishings of the terrarium, you need to take care of the convenience of timely cleaning, since the health of the lizard is very dependent on cleanliness.

A chameleon is a hunter by nature, but if we take into account that they will keep him in a terrarium, then you need to acquire (buy) insects, such as: grasshoppers, flies, cockroaches, butterflies, dragonflies, flour worms.

Chameleons are not simple in nature, and before buying, you should not be too lazy to go over the care literature.

They are peculiar and with their own character, but its color can please and entertain all guests and household.

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The chameleon is considered one of the most amazing inhabitants of our planet. He is able not only to change his color, but also to look in two directions at the same time. Therefore, there is nothing strange in the fact that many people are interested in what chameleons look like and where they live. In which country you can meet these creatures, you will learn from today's article.

Habitat

They inhabit steppes, savannahs, deserts and rainforests. Their main habitats are considered to be Sri Lanka, South India, the Middle East and North Africa. For those who want to understand where chameleons live, it will be interesting to know that they are often found in Hawaii and the United States.

Many of them live in trees. But some species of African reptiles that live in the sand dunes dig holes and hide in them from cold and heat.

Appearance

Having figured out where chameleons live in nature, you need to understand what these creatures look like. The skin of these reptiles belonging to the lizard family has two pigment layers. This is what explains their ability to change their color.

The wide body of these amazing animals is covered with small scales, and on a rather narrow head there are small tubercles, horns or a crest. As a rule, such formations are present in males.

For those who want to understand where chameleons live in Tunisia, it will be interesting to learn about another feature of tree lizards. Their eyes are almost completely closed by fused eyelids, on which there are only small holes for the pupils. In addition, these reptiles are very long tongue. They are able to throw it out of their mouths at a distance exceeding the size of their torso. On the paws of animals there are two or three fused fingers, directed in opposite directions. Such claw-like limbs allow chameleons to easily move through trees.

As for the size, they depend on the type of reptile. So, the length of some of them does not exceed thirty millimeters, while others grow up to sixty centimeters. Also, these creatures have a tenacious tail, with which they grab and hold objects.

Behavioral Features

Those who have already understood where chameleons live will not be hurt by the information that they like to gather in small groups of six individuals. Having looked for a convenient branch for themselves, they cling to it with their paws and tail. In this position, reptiles are able to spend about twenty-four hours. To leave a convenient branch, located at a decent height from the surface of the earth, they can only be forced by a truly worthwhile business.

Having figured out where chameleons live, it will not be superfluous to mention that among all inactive animals, only they are able to sit in one place for hours, and sometimes for days, waiting for the prey to approach. They feed on locusts, grasshoppers, crickets and other insects. The diet of large individuals is slightly more varied. They feed on birds and small lizards.

How do these reptiles reproduce?

The mating period depends on the time of year and habitat. At the height of the mating season, males become very aggressive. They arrange real tournaments, the winners of which get the right to become the head of the “harem” in their area. They are painted in bright martial colors, inflate and hiss at each other. Males butt each other with processes located on the head and bite rivals.

Having understood where chameleons live, you need to figure out exactly how they reproduce. Interesting that they can do this with several different ways. But representatives of most species prefer the usual reproduction for reptiles. At one time, the female can lay from fifteen to eighty eggs. She then buries them deep in the ground or hangs them from a tree branch. Duration incubation period up to ten months.

Some species of chameleons are viviparous. Such reptiles have up to fourteen babies, for which a kind of “nursery” is being built. The cubs are glued with mucus directly to the branches of trees and fed for a certain period.

Some species of these animals are capable of parthenogenesis. Females without the participation of males lay unfertilized eggs. Subsequently, full-fledged viable cubs hatch from them.

Chameleon life in nature. Chameleon: description, types of what they eat

The chameleon's secret weapon is the tongue

Mysterious chameleon eyes