Chamaeleo
''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. Description Species in the genus ''Chamaeleo'' are slow moving, with independently movable eyes, the ability to change skin colouration, a long tongue, usually a prehensile tail, and special leg adaptations for grasping vegetation. Males are generally larger and more colorful than females. Almost all species have a maximum snout-vent length (SVL) between . Behavior The vast majority of ''Chamaeleo'' species are arboreal and typically found in trees or bushes, but a few species (notably the Namaqua Chameleon) are partially or largely terrestrial. Reproduction The genus ''Chamaeleo'' includes only oviparous species. In captivity With few exceptions, the chameleons most commonly seen in captivity are all members of the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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, 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 (shades of brown); for others, a plethora of color-combinations (reds, yellows, greens, blues) can be seen. Chameleons are distinguished by their zygodactylous feet, their prehensile tail, their laterally compressed bodies, their head casques, their projectile tongues, their swaying gait, and crests or horns on their brow and snout. Chameleons' eyes are independently mobile, and because of this there are two separate, individual images that the brain is analyzing of the chameleon’s environment. When hunting prey, th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Veiled Chameleon
The veiled chameleon (''Chamaeleo calyptratus'') is a species of chameleon ( family Chamaeleonidae) native to the Arabian Peninsula in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. Other common names include cone-head chameleon and Yemen chameleon. They are born pastel green and without their distinctive casques on their head. They grow this as well as become more colorful as they mature. They are known for their variable color changes due to a variety of factors, including to show aggression, social status, reproduction, and stress. Females live around 5 years and males live for around 8 and they breed a few times a year. Description The male is long from the snout to the tip of the tail. The female is shorter, no more than about , but it has a thicker body. Both sexes have a casque on the head which grows larger as the chameleon matures, reaching about in the largest adults. Newly hatched offspring are born pastel green in color and develop stripes and different colors as they mature. Adult ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bradypodion
''Bradypodion'' (meaning "slow-footed" in Greek) is one of six genera of chameleons within the "true" or "typical" chameleons ( Family Chamaeleonidae). They are native to southern Africa, and are sometimes collectively called South African dwarf chameleons. Some other small chameleons from eastern and central Africa are occasionally placed herein, but this is probably in error and not followed here. See also Systematics below and '' Kinyongia'' and '' Nadzikambia''. __TOC__ Species 20 species are currently recognized: Undescribed species * Emerald dwarf chameleon, ''Bradypodion'' sp. (Emerald) * ''Bradypodion'' sp. (Groendal) * ''Bradypodion'' sp. (Grootvadersbosch) * ''Bradypodion'' sp. (Jagersbos) Systematics Delimitation of ''Bradypodion'' has been controversial for some time. Most species seem readily distinguishable by morphological characteristics, but for some time the genus was used as a wastebin taxon for smaller chameleons from sub-Saharan Africa with plesiomor ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Calumma
''Calumma'' is a genus of chameleons endemic and restricted to Madagascar. The species formerly named ''Calumma tigris'' was transferred to the genus '' Archaius'' by Townsend et al., when they found that it is more closely related to '' Rieppeleon'' than to ''Calumma''. The oldest fossil of the genus is known from the Early Miocene of Kenya, showing that the genus originated in Africa. Species groups Four species groups are recognised within the genus ''Calumma'' (originally proposed by Glaw & Vences in 1994), some of which may be only phenetic, while others are phylogenetically supported: '' Calumma furcifer'' species group Contents: ''Calumma furcifer, C. gastrotaenia, C. marojezense, C. guillaumeti, C. andringitraense, C. glawi, C. vencesi'' Species characterised by typically green body colouration, sleek body form, and generally no occipital lobes (flaps of skin posterior to the head; present only in ''C. glawi'') and no rostral appendage (present only in males of ''C. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Furcifer
''Furcifer'' is a genus of chameleons whose member species are mostly endemic to Madagascar, but ''F. cephalolepis'' and ''F. polleni'' are endemic to the Comoros. Additionally, ''F. pardalis'' has been introduced to Réunion and Mauritius, while ''F. oustaleti'' has been introduced to near Nairobi in Kenya. Taxonomy The generic name () is derived from the Latin root meaning "forked" and refers to the shape of the animal's feet. The genus contains 24 species. Glaw F et al. (2009)A distinctive new species of chameleon of the genus ''Furcifer'' (Squamata: Chameleonidae) from the Montagne d'Ambre rainforest of northern Madagascar.''Zootaxa'' 2269: 32-42. Species The following species are recognized as being valid."''Furcifer'' ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org. ''Nota bene'': A binomial authority In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal syste ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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 tail cannot be used for this it is considered only partially prehensile - such tails are often used to anchor an animal's body to dangle from a branch, or as an aid for climbing. The term ''prehensile'' means "able to grasp" (from the Latin ''prehendere'', to take hold of, to grasp). Evolution One point of interest is the distribution of animals with prehensile tails. The prehensile tail is predominantly a New World adaptation, especially among mammals. Many more animals in South America have prehensile tails than in Africa and Southeast Asia. It has been argued that animals with prehensile tails are more common in South America because the forest there is denser than in Africa or Southeast Asia. In contrast, less dense forests such as in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can reproduction, produce Fertility, fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. Other ways of defining species include their karyotype, DNA sequence, morphology (biology), morphology, behaviour or ecological niche. In addition, paleontologists use the concept of the chronospecies since fossil reproduction cannot be examined. The most recent rigorous estimate for the total number of species of eukaryotes is between 8 and 8.7 million. However, only about 14% of these had been described by 2011. All species (except viruses) are given a binomial nomenclature, two-part name, a "binomial". The first part of a binomial is the genus to which the species belongs. The second part is called the specifi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Oviparity
Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), and monotremes. In traditional usage, most insects (one being '' Culex pipiens'', or the common house mosquito), molluscs, and arachnids are also described as oviparous. Modes of reproduction The traditional modes of reproduction include oviparity, taken to be the ancestral condition, traditionally where either unfertilised oocytes or fertilised eggs are spawned, and viviparity traditionally including any mechanism where young are born live, or where the development of the young is supported by either parent in or on any part of their body. However, the biologist Thierry Lodé recently divided the traditional category of oviparous reproduction into two modes that he named ovuliparity and (true) oviparity respectively. He distinguished ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti
Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti (4 December 1735, Vienna – 17 February 1805, Vienna) was an Austrian naturalist and zoologist of Italian origin. Laurenti is considered the auctor of the class Reptilia ( reptiles) through his authorship of ' (1768) on the poisonous function of reptiles and amphibians. This was an important book in herpetology, defining thirty genera of reptiles; Carl Linnaeus's 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'' in 1758 defined only ten genera. ''Specimen Medicum'' contains a description of the blind salamander (amphibian): '' Proteus anguinus'', purportedly collected from cave waters in Slovenia (or possibly western Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...); this description represented one of the first published accounts of a cave animal in t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |