The Malagasy giant chameleon or Oustalet's chameleon is a large species of chameleon which is native to entire Madagascar, but also has been introduced near Nairobi in Kenya and in Miami-Dade County in the United States. It occurs in a wide range of habitats, even among degraded vegetation within villages, but is relatively rare in the interior of primary forest.
Image: Oustalet's chameleon (Furcifer oustaleti) male Montagne d’Ambre
Image: Oustalet's chameleon (Furcifer oustaleti) female
male, Anja Community Reserve
juvenile male, Montagne d'Ambre National Park
Chameleons or chamaeleons are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 200 species described as of June 2015. The members of this family are best known for their distinct range of colours, being capable of colour-shifting camouflage. The large number of species in the family exhibit considerable variability in their capacity to change colour. For some, it is more of a shift of brightness ; for others, a plethora of colour-combinations can be seen.
Chameleon
Mughal era painting of a chameleon by Ustad Mansur.
Skeleton of common chameleon
Nearly all species of chameleon have prehensile tails, but they most often grip with the tail when they cannot use all four feet at once, such as when passing from one twig to another.
