38 



GUIDE TO KEPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS. 



inter-clavicle, are absent. The long tail, which is not of a brittle 

 and renewable type, is prehensile and curled downwards when used 

 as a grasping organ. 



The skin is covered with granules in place of scales ; and the 



Head of the Common Chamseleon (Chamteleon vulgaris) 

 tongue partially protruded. 



with the 



eyes are very large, with the eyelids united into one fold, having 

 a minute central opening. Each eye can be moved independently ; 

 and the movements of the limbs are slow and sluggish. As in 

 all arboreal Lizards, the body of the Chamseleons is much compressed 



Fore-foot of a Chameeleon. 



laterally. Chameleons are famed for the capacity of changing 

 colour according to the nature of their surrounding — a power which 

 they share, however, with certain Lizards such as those of the genus 

 Galotes. They feed on flies and other insects, which are caught 

 at a distance of several inches on the sticky end of the protrusile 

 tongue (fig. 39). Most species lay eggs, but a few are viviparous. 

 In the majority the prevailing colour is brown or green, but in the 



