Indian chameleon: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the Indian chameleon lives – recorded in 1 country, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Chamaeleo zeylanicus
Group	Lizards, geckos & tuatara
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	1 country
Continents	Asia
Class	Reptile
Order	Squamata
Family	Chamaeleonidae

Where does the Indian chameleon live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the Indian chameleon in 1 country or territory across Asia.

India

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the Indian chameleon endangered?

The Indian chameleon’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the Indian chameleon?

The Indian chameleon (Chamaeleo zeylanicus) is a reptile in the order Squamata and the family Chamaeleonidae, genus Chamaeleo. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the Indian chameleon

The Indian chameleon (Chamaeleo zeylanicus) is a species of chameleon found in Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and select other parts of South Asia. Like other chameleons, this species moves slowly with a bobbing or swaying movement (attempting to mimic swaying branches) and are usually arboreal. They have an extremely long and sticky tongue, which they use to catch insects from several feet away. Also like other chameleons, C. zeylanicus has bifurcated feet with a tongs-like shape, a prehensile tail, independent eye movement, and the ability to rapidly change skin colouring and patterns. Despite common misconceptions, they do not change their visual appearance based on their surroundings or background, or even for camouflage, and may not even be able to perceive colour differences; rather, it is primarily for communication with others of their species, including to signify the receptiveness of a female (brighter patterns tend to show a willingness to mate) or submissiveness in general disputes (in territorial or male-female disputes, darker hues are often associated with submission, anger or desiring solitude). Additionally, colouring can change for controlling body temperature, changing to darker colours to absorb heat, or lighter to cool themselves.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Indian chameleon (revision 1359194805), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q2700540 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).