View allAll Photos Tagged CHAMELEONS
Today I was lucky enough to meet a chameleon at the South Downs Show in Hampshire, thanks to Portsmouth Reptile and Amphibian Society. He was amazing, such vivid colours. Apparently they're bright colours when they're relaxed and darker colours when they're stressed so luckily he was relaxed about being shown off.
Spiny Desert of Madagascar chameleon rests in tree and waits for his next shower from a spray bottle. Cleveland Botanical Garden.
Veiled Chameleon
I chose this shot because the colours of the chameleon are very vibrant and it is a nice close up.
At work today I found this chameleon trapped in the workshop, between all the sawdust. It was only when I took him outside and dusted him off that I realised he was in the process of shedding his skin. He kindly stayed in the shrub I put him in, till work was over, and I could get a chance to photograph him! :)
The only animal in the world whose right eye doesn't know what the left eye is doing...
Please do not use any any of these photos without my permission. If you want to use any of them please write to me. Thank you.
A lot of Madagascar's wildlife is nocturnal and to see it you need to walk the rainforest or bush after dark with a torch. This small chameleon was spotted in the Ranomafana rainforest that lived up to its name by raining hard.
Chameleons change colour by expanding or shrinking the pigment cells in their skin. They can blend perfectly into the bush and ambush prey. The eyes swivel independently to spy insects in any direction.
Short-horned chameleon (Calumma brevicornis) is endemic to Madagascar and has a broad latitudinal distribution in eastern Madagascar. This species occurs within mid-altitude humid forest.
The short-horned chameleon has a compressed body, spindly limbs, grasping feet and a prehensile tail allowing it to negotiate the branches and twigs of its arboreal habitat. The most distinctive features of the short-horned chameleon are its large, ear-like occipital lobes, and the short bony appendage that projects from the snout of the male. When threatened, it raises its ear-like flaps to increase its apparent size and attacks with an open mouth.
Very little is known about this species' ecology, but in captivity it is known to feed on a wide variety of insects. Females have been observed laying 10 to 30 eggs, around 40 days after mating.
Stayed at the Marriott Beach Club, Phuket. The resort has a private beach, but as it is jellyfish season, no swimming is allowed. In any case, the waves look pretty rough to me.
But it was nice to walk down the beach, looking at the horizon.
The grounds are full of these little chameleons, enjoying the sunshine.
Chameleons (family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of lizards. They are distinguished by their parrot-like zygodactylous feet, their separately mobile and stereoscopic eyes, their very long, highly modified, and rapidly extrudable tongues, their swaying gait, the possession by many of a prehensile tail, crests or horns on their distinctively shaped heads, and the ability of some to change color. Uniquely adapted for climbing and visual hunting, the approximately 160 species of chameleon range from Africa, Madagascar, Spain and Portugal, across south Asia, to Sri Lanka, have been introduced to Hawaii, California and Florida, and are found in warm habitats that vary from rain forest to desert conditions.
Had him set up in my shower for some hydration time.
Shut off lights and let him sleep while I shot in total darkness with flas to get his natural colors.
Digital Minolta 7D