The Indian Chameleon

Expert in camouflage, independent eye movement, and a tongue almost the length of its body, the chameleons are amongst the best examples of evolution in nature.

Indian Chameleon

Nature or “Prakriti” has given every being an astonishing ability but for that it takes away something. The chameleon has a very amazing ability to change the color of its skin with the help of cells called iridophore cells which help them reflect light from their surrounding unlike octopuses who release pigments to change color. But for this the chameleons are slow, if not talking about the way they hunt.

Chameleons have an independent eye movement

The chameleon has always been special for me. Few years ago my dad found the very first chameleon of his life. We watched it change color, curl its “PREHENSILE” tail over branches every now and then and look at us with one eye and behind with the other. We also watched its feet which are adapted for holding branches.

The feet are specially adapted for holding branches

A few days ago my father found one again and it is as spectacular as you see them in the nature documentaries on your television. This time it was alert. It stayed in one position for an hour waiting for a honey bee to come close which definitely had a honeycomb nearby. I had setup my camera which could record the slow motion footage of the hunt but I was unfortunate as the Chameleon decided to climb up a tree and vanish above the canopy.

Its all green and no chameleon if you don't look closely

One more interesting face about the chameleon is that while sleeping, to hold its body in one position it coils it prehensile tail around a branch and shrinks itself to hide from the predators.

Its Prehensile tail helps to hold branches

The Indian Chameleon in science called Chameleo Zeylanicus resides in India and Sri Lanka and is not known to most of the population. Here is a small effort to bring this beautiful species in front of people. A step to take people close to Mother Nature again!

The Indian Chameleon

(Content and Photographs by Prabhu Parmar)