Chameleon

Chameleons (family Chamaeleonidae) are a group of lizards, with 200 species alive today. They are Old World lizards, primarily occurring on Madagascar and mainland Africa, with an additional handful of species from Europe, Arabia and India. Chameleons are famous for their independently-moving eyes and ability to change colour depending on their mood and temperature. This family ranges in size from the 2.9cm micro-chameleon *Brookesia nana* to the cat-sized Parson’s chameleon. The chameleon family also contains the shortest-lived vertebrate, the Labord’s chameleon, which only lives for a year.

## Appearances in Dorling Kindersley Vision media

### See How They Grow

The Tree Animals episode of See How They Grow has one of its four segments about the life cycle of a chameleon – the exact species is not completely confirmed as the episode remains lost, but there is some indication that it could be the veiled chameleon. The VHS cover for Tree Animals includes a stock image of a warty chameleon.

### Amazing Animals

A total of twelve episodes of Amazing Animals contains at least one chameleon species. In total, six different species of chameleon are depicted in the series. The seasons with most episodes in which at least one chameleon species appears is Seasons One and Three, each with four episodes.

* **SEASON ONE**: Animal Disguises, Nighttime Animals, Animal Appetites, Animal Weapons
* **SEASON TWO**: Desert Animals
* **SEASON THREE**: Animal Hunters, Animal Neighbors, Giant Animals, Animal Changes
* **SEASON FOUR**: Animal Partners, Scaly Animals, River Animals

Three species of chameleon appear only in Amazing Animals – the Jackson’s chameleon appears in five episodes, more than any other species. The African flap-necked chameleon appears in three episodes while the Meller’s chameleon, the largest species from the African mainland, appears only in Animal Hunters.

The chameleon is chosen as the winner of the Golden Gecko Awards in the Animal Disguises episode. Jackson's chameleon wins the silver award in Animal Weapons and chameleons in general also win the silver award in Animal Colors, Animal Acrobats and Scaly Animals.

As well as the real chameleons, Amazing Animals also has the cartoon Chameleon. It appears in cartoon segments in all four seasons, with a total of eleven appearances across eight episodes.

### Eyewitness

Only five episodes of Eyewitness contain a chameleon species, with three of those containing just a single species. A total of six chameleon species appears in Eyewitness, tied with Amazing Animals despite the much lower episode count. Season Three has the most episodes in which at least one chameleon species appears, with three episodes – both Seasons One and Two have just a single episode.

* **SEASON ONE**: Reptile
* **SEASON TWO**: Desert
* **SEASON THREE**: Sight, Island, Monster

Three species of chameleon appear only in Eyewitness – the Mediterranean chameleon appears as stock footage in both Reptile and Sight. The Parson’s chameleon, the world’s largest species, appears in both Island and Monster. A female lesser chameleon appears very briefly in a stock footage window at the end of Monster.

## Total species

A total of nine chameleon species have appeared across all the Dorling Kindersley Vision series:

* Parson’s chameleon, *Calumma parsonii*
* Veiled chameleon, *Chamaeleo calyptratus*
* Mediterranean chameleon, *Chamaeleo chamaeleon*
* Flap-necked chameleon, *Chamaeleo dilepis*
* Namaqua chameleon, *Chamaeleo namaquensis*
* Panther chameleon, *Furcifer pardalis*
* Lesser chameleon, *Furcifer minor*
* Jackson’s chameleon, *Trioceros jacksonii*
* Meller’s chameleon, *Trioceros melleri*

## Gallery

Parson's chameleonVeiled chameleonMediterranean chameleonFlap-necked chameleonNamaqua chameleonPanther chameleonLesser chameleonJackson's chameleonMeller's chameleon