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two light coloured lines along its side. It has a small beard of scales and some small hard scales on the top of its back. Many assume the color changes undergone by the chameleon are a result of its attempting to camouflage itself, when in reality the chameleon changes its color as a response to light and temperature stimuli and as an expression of its emotions (like chameleon body language). Often when caught for analysis, the chameleon may turn a dark color. Their colors are also important for intraspecies communication, especially during the mating season.
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will fight over a female. The mating season for the common chameleon is from mid-July to mid-September. The animals descend to lowers levels of vegetation or to the ground to search for a mate. The eggs are laid in the soil and take from 10–12 months to incubate. Adult animals, especially males, will eat young that they encounter.
545:
The common chameleon is usually solitary, maintaining a territory and only tolerating members of the opposite sex during the mating season. It is sexually mature within one year and the females produce one clutch of eggs per year. Larger females produce more eggs and are more attracted to males who
463:
The average length of the common chameleon is 20–40 cm (8–16 inches), with females often being substantially larger than males. The colour of the common chameleon is variable, between yellow/brown through green to a dark brown. Whatever the background colour is, the common chameleon will have
681:, having disappeared from the other islands in recent years. Conservation efforts on Samos are being led by the Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation to preserve the remaining populations, but the species is not currently evaluated under the IUCN redlist.
689:
While the species is common throughout most of its range, it is threatened locally by habitat loss, principally through urban development, the intensification of agriculture, predation by domestic animals, illegal collection for the pet trade, and
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tail to maintain balance and stability. Movement is usually leisurely, often with a slight swaying motion to avoid detection by predators. The animal can move more rapidly when involved in a territorial dispute.
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The common chameleon is insectivorous, capturing insects by stealth and the rapid extension of its long tongue, which has a terminal pad which grasps and adheres to the prey. Common prey items include
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habitat, scrambling about in trees and bushes with feet that have five toes, in groups of two or three on each side for grasping branches. It also uses its
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Vogrin, M.; Corti, C.; Pérez
Mellado, V.; Sá-Sousa, P.; Cheylan, M.; Pleguezuelos, J.; Baha El Din, S.; Al Johany, A.M.H. (2012).
215:
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Contribuição para uma estratégia de conservação para o camaleão-comum, Chamaleo chamaleon (Linnaeus, 1758), no sul de
Portugal
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590:. Since then, this species seems to have flourished and spread across the island, with sightings being reported in
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priests are thought to have introduced this species around 1880 in a small private garden in
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520:(Coleoptera). Adults are known to eat young chameleons and have been observed to eat fruit.
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574:. Nevertheless, it has been successfully introduced into other Greek islands,
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Distribución y
Biogeografía de los anfibios y Reptiles en España y Portugal
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594:, Malta's sister island. A small population is reported to be present in
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853:. Granada, ES: Editorial Universidad de Granada. pp. 190–192.
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677:. In Greece, the species is now only found on the island of
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The common chameleon like others of its family enjoys an
913:. Cairo, Egypt: The American University in Cairo Press.
849:
935:"The "Greek" Mediterranean chameleon lives in Samos!"
890:
Savona
Ventura, C. (1975). "The European chameleon".
694:
mortality. Wildfires constitute a threat in Turkey.
1273:
986:
554:In Europe, it is only autochthonous to: southern
471:Chameleon in Northern Israel looking backwards
939:Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation
911:A Guide to Reptiles & Amphibians of Egypt
8:
738:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2012.RLTS.T157246A743434.en
974:
417:Four subspecies are currently recognized:
379:) is a species of chameleon native to the
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395:with a range that naturally extends into
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237:
7:
1317:8CE8457F-A08E-4882-8226-FC42DE33D6D2
1120:f708e165-c21a-47e4-8770-a99e755667fb
1340:IUCN Red List least concern species
724:IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
331:Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854
14:
288:Chamaeleo (Chamaeleo) chamaeleon
88:
304:Chamaeleon chamaeleon saharicus
1:
969:Reptarium.cz Reptile Database
866:"The Mediterranean chameleon"
479:Bright-coloured chameleon in
909:Baha el Din, Sherif (2006).
1355:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
1381:
1350:Reptiles described in 1758
767:"Mediterranean chameleon (
383:and parts surrounding the
230:
223:
200:
193:
85:Scientific classification
83:
61:
52:
37:
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23:
773:. Arkive. Archived from
685:Conservation and threats
570:and the Greek island of
371:Mediterranean chameleon
892:The Maltese Naturalist
483:
472:
414:
344:Chameleon parisientium
264:Chamaeleo parisiensium
43:Dana Biosphere Reserve
818:Brás, P.G.G. (2011).
478:
470:
410:
336:Chameleon parisiensis
1115:Fauna Europaea (new)
1032:Chamaeleo_chamaeleon
1018:Chamaeleo chamaeleon
988:Chamaeleo chamaeleon
964:Chamaeleo chamaeleon
842:Blasco, M. (1997). "
829:University of Lisbon
805:Animal Diversity Web
799:Chamaeleo chamaeleon
769:Chamaeleo chamaeleon
731:: e.T157246A743434.
717:Chamaeleo chamaeleon
376:Chamaeleo chamaeleon
312:Chamaeleon fasciatus
204:Chamaeleo chamaeleon
941:. 14 September 2018
844:Chamaelo chamaeleon
602:in southern Italy.
437:(Steindacher, 1900)
429:nominate subspecies
412:Chamaeleo chameleon
381:Mediterranean Basin
320:Chamaeleon vulgaris
272:Chamaeleo saharicus
248:Chamaeleo carinatus
55:Conservation status
1275:Lacerta chamaeleon
516:(Orthoptera), and
484:
473:
450:C. c. rectricrista
415:
352:Lacerta chamaeleon
296:Chamaeleon auratus
280:Chamaeleo vulgaris
256:Chamaeleo cinereus
186:C. chamaeleon
1365:Lizards of Africa
1360:Lizards of Europe
1327:
1326:
1232:Open Tree of Life
980:Taxon identifiers
871:. Gulf Publishing
777:on 30 August 2013
387:. It is the only
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328:Chameleo vulgaris
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39:C. c. recticrista
24:Common chameleon
16:Species of lizard
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442:C. c. orientalis
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425:(Linnaeus, 1758)
422:C. c. chamaeleon
367:common chameleon
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508:(Heteroptera),
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957:External links
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827:(PhD thesis).
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576:Canary islands
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943:. Retrieved
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873:. Retrieved
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779:. Retrieved
775:the original
768:
742:. Retrieved
728:
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688:
651:Saudi Arabia
607:North Africa
604:
588:St. Julian's
582:. In Malta,
553:
550:Distribution
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541:Reproduction
527:
514:grasshoppers
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283:Turner, 1853
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275:Müller, 1887
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18:
1141:iNaturalist
1012:Wikispecies
898:(2): 41–43.
744:19 November
611:Middle East
562:, southern
558:, southern
500:(Diptera),
459:Description
434:C. c. musae
391:species of
347:Bosca, 1880
315:Smith, 1866
291:Necas, 1999
1334:Categories
1290:Q122898035
1250:chamaeleon
698:References
534:prehensile
403:Subspecies
339:Gray, 1845
299:Gray, 1865
148:Suborder:
1345:Chamaeleo
875:5 January
639:Palestine
524:Behaviour
506:true bugs
180:Species:
173:Chamaeleo
108:Kingdom:
102:Eukaryota
1284:Wikidata
1258:Species+
1159:10869791
1039:BioLib:
997:Wikidata
945:23 March
781:9 August
692:roadkill
609:and the
600:Calabria
556:Portugal
530:arboreal
510:crickets
225:Synonyms
212:Linnaeus
158:Family:
142:Squamata
132:Reptilia
122:Chordata
118:Phylum:
112:Animalia
98:Domain:
75:IUCN 3.1
1312:ZooBank
1304:2449063
1133:2449051
1003:Q577924
967:at the
663:Lebanon
623:Tunisia
619:Algeria
615:Morocco
518:beetles
487:Ecology
385:Red Sea
168:Genus:
152:Iguania
138:Order:
128:Class:
73: (
1237:824527
1185:157246
1172:715154
1107:214592
1081:CHMLCH
1068:791828
917:
673:, and
659:Turkey
643:Jordan
635:Israel
596:Apulia
584:Jesuit
568:Cyprus
427:– the
397:Europe
389:extant
47:Jordan
1224:82362
1211:91907
1154:IRMNG
1146:32864
1089:EUNIS
1042:59138
869:(PDF)
825:(PDF)
679:Samos
667:Syria
655:Yemen
631:Egypt
627:Libya
580:Malta
572:Crete
564:Italy
560:Spain
498:flies
481:Malta
1299:GBIF
1263:6945
1206:NCBI
1180:IUCN
1167:ITIS
1128:GBIF
1076:EPPO
1055:TK5D
947:2019
915:ISBN
877:2020
783:2013
746:2021
729:2012
675:Iran
671:Iraq
598:and
592:Gozo
578:and
512:and
492:Diet
365:The
234:List
216:1758
1193:NBN
1094:648
1063:EoL
1050:CoL
1027:ADW
733:doi
605:In
369:or
1336::
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937:.
894:.
803:.
771:)"
754:^
727:.
721:.
705:^
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896:2
879:.
831:.
807:.
801:"
797:"
785:.
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735::
719:"
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373:(
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210:(
77:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
