Flap neck Chameleon -
Chamaeleo dilepis
With its distinctive shape, ponderous
movements and tiny eyes at the ends of conical turrets, the chameleon
is an unmistakable reptile. Its ability to change colour is very
well known, but this is not done to match its background as commonly
believed - although that may happen coincidentally - but as a means
of communication and to regulate body temperature.
If you surprise a chameleon, it will
inflate its body, open its mouth to reveal it bright orange palette,
hiss, and lunge forward. Such behaviour is intended to surprise
and confuse any attacker, giving the chameleon time to make an escape
and utilise its superb camouflage against the foliage of a shrub
or tree. Although slow-moving when under observation - they walk
slowly to avoid detection - chameleons are actually able to scamper
quite quickly when being pursued. The ferocious defensive behaviour
of these little lizards led to the ancient Greeks naming them 'Dwarf
Lions' - 'Chamai leons'.
Over most of Africa, the Flap-necked
Chameleon is the most widespread and commonly encountered species,
ranging from the dry Kalahari and temperate Gauteng Highveld, to
the warm savannas of Zululand and the Lowveld, north to Tanzania
and Kenya. This fairly large chameleon is usually bright green in
colour, but may also be seen in shades of brown and yellow, and
typically turns blueish-white after dark (when it is most easily
found with a torch or spotlight). It is strictly solitary, but several
males may court a female during the mating season in mid-summer.
Mating is an energetic - and one might say passionate, affair -
and, after two or three months, the heavily gravid (pregnant) female
will search for a suitable nest site. Egg-laying usually takes place
in late summer (March to April in southern Africa) when the ground
is at its softest after the rains. Between 20 and 35 eggs (rarely
as many as 65) are deposited in a burrow of between 15 and 30cm
- excavated and then closed up by the female over a period of several
hours. The eggs may hatch within 150 days (5 months) in captivity,
but take up to 12 months in the wild, when development slows up
during the cold winter months. The hatchlings dig their way to the
surface and immediately go their own way - fully independent and
able to catch tiny insects with their elastic tongue.
Chameleons prey on insects such as
grasshoppers, flies, mosquitoes and beetles which are caught with
the amazing elastic tongue that can be projected to a length equal
to that of the chameleon itself; a spring mechanism and a suction
tip combine to surprise and retrieve the prey.
Snakes are the main predators
of chameleons - particularly the Boomslang and Vine Snake - but
birds such as shrikes, coucals and hornbills take a good number,
and the rare Cuckoo Hawk is something of a chameleon specialist.
Man is the by far the greatest threat, however, as garden and agricultural
pesticides kill or contaminate the insect prey of chameleons causing
them to die of poisoning or starvation. The destruction of natural
habitats and too-frequent grass fires are responsible for the death
of thousands of chameleons.
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