''Chamaeleo caroliquarti'' is an extinct 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 ...

from Lower

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 ...

-aged strata of the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. ''C. caroliquarti'' is the oldest known representative of ''Chamaeleo'', and, if the middle Paleocene-aged ''

Anqingosaurus ''Anqingosaurus brevicephalus'' (synonym ''Anguingosaurus brevicephalus'') is an extinct lizard from the early Middle Paleocene of Anhui, China. ''A. brevicephalus'' was originally described as a chameleon, but, not all authorities agree with th ...

'' is not a chameleon, the oldest known chameleon.

References

† Miocene lepidosaurs Miocene reptiles of Europe Fossil taxa described in 1980 {{chameleon-stub