Chamaeleons are probably best known for their ability to change colors.
Their tail is prehensile and 2 or 3 of their toes are fused to form grasping pads, making them ideally adapted to arboreal life. Chameleons can move their eyes independently and through their position on protruding cones they have three-dimensional vision when they look ahead. This allows them to focus their prey ahead of them. By means of their extremely elongated and protractable tongue they can catch prey at a distance corresponding to their own body length. Most members of the family occur in Africa and Madagascar, but a few species can be found in the Middle East, Asia, and Southern Europe.