Meller's Chameleon
Description:Meller's Chameleon, named after Dr. Meller for providing valuable information on chameleon's for John Gray, are the largest chameleons on Africa's mainland. Chameleons are most known for their changing of colour. They do this when trying to communicate their moods, stress, or aggression by changing their usually green skin to colours such as brown, dark green, yellow, grey, or black (usually, when a chameleon changes to black they are females who are carrying up to 80 eggs). A Meller's Chameleon's head can be as long as 7 cm, while their tongue can be as long as 50 cm. Their tongue is useful when it comes to reaching prey. Organisms that fall prey to these chameleons are usually large insects (eg. locusts), hatchling birds, small lizards, and frogs. These chameleons also do not have any teeth, instead, they have a bony ridge which covers its gums.
Eggs layed by chameleons are put into incubators, where it is always warm and humid. The temperature inside the incubator is 27 degrees Celsius, a temperature that would make the eggs hatch in approximately 170 days.
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Taxonomic Classification:Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Suborder: Sauria Family: Chamaeleonidae Genus: Trioceros Species: T. melleri source
A Meller's Chameleon acquires its food by reaching its tongue out to its prey. The length and the speed of its tongue make it well adapted to its method of catching prey. |
Habitat Comparison
Meller's Chameleon is native to the African mainland although more than half of its world population is found in Madagascar This chameleon typically lives in tropical grasslands and treetops of bush trees in the African savanna. This enclosure does not accurately reflect their natural ecosystem since the enclosure does not have many leaves on its bush trees nor does it have any features shown in tropical grasslands; the enclosure is simply a glass case with one bush and a chameleon instead of the lush green habitat it should be.