Chameleons are animals of the reptile class, belonging to the squamous order of the chameleon family. The family consists of approximately one hundred and sixty individuals. These animals are known to many for their ability to change color, as well as other characteristic features.
The main habitats of chameleons are considered to be North Africa, Southern Europe, the Middle East, South India, Sri Lanka. Chameleons can also be found in the United States and Hawaii. These animals prefer to live in tropical forests, deserts, steppes and savannas. Some species, such as the Namaqua chameleons of the Namib Desert, dig burrows in the sand dunes to hide from the heat and cold.
Chameleon sizes can vary depending on the species. So, the smallest representative of chameleons can be only 5 cm long, and the largest individuals reach sizes up to 60 cm.
Among the interesting features of the animal, one can note the ability to quickly seize prey with its tongue. The chameleon throws out its tongue faster than a human can follow with a gaze, reaching its prey in thirty thousandths of a second. As soon as the tip of the tongue touches the prey, it transforms into a suction cup, sticks to the victim and is pulled into the mouth, where powerful jaws will crush the prey. Even a small chameleon can eat a praying mantis or locusts.
Another amazing ability of a chameleon is the ability to change its color. How chameleons do it is an amazing and challenging process. Each chameleon species has a set of colors that it can display. Animals have four layers of skin: the outer, that is, the protective layer; a chromatophore layer containing yellow and red pigments; a layer with melanophore, which contains a dark pigment - melanin and can create brown and black, giving a blue color; and a bottom layer that only displays white.
Nerve impulses and changes in hormone levels lead to the fact that the cells in these layers expand or contract, and mixing the colors of the layers creates the color that a person or other animals can see. The color change takes just twenty seconds.
