CHAMJELEONS. 
101 
species of Chamaeleons from Madagascar have been described by 
Dr. Gunther since Bottger’s estimate was made. In no other 
region is the genus Chamaeleon so conspicuously represented. 
It is curious, if true, that the tropical African mainland nearest 
to Madagascar should be poorer in species than the western 
coast. Is this due to its greater humidity,* or have we here to 
deal with an effect of migration, as in the case of the singular 
reptilian fauna of the Galapagos Islands ? f 
We find little or no mention of Chamaeleons frequenting 
central Africa properly so called. 
Omitting the Cape species and dividing' the Ethiopian region 
by its principal meridian, that of 20° E. longitude, we find only 
two species of Chamaeleons which live on both sides of this 
line. 
The limited distribution of the Chamaeleons and the fact 
that none are known to be extinct + indicate the lateness of their 
origin. Pliny has called Africa 1 the land of wonders in a sentence 
approvingly quoted by Linnaeus. Professor Owen, who cites 
the same passage, has shown that its reptilian fauna in past 
times was no less wonderful than in the present. 
We now return to the common and famous species, which 
also enjoys by far the widest range. It occurs in Spain 
(Andalusia), northern Africa, southern Africa, Asia Minor, the 
Indian Peninsula and the northern parts of Ceylon. The 
British Museum contains specimens said to have been brought 
from Singapore and even Japan. Its presence in Ceylon has 
recently been denied, but the rebutting evidence on this point 
is indisputable. The occurrence of the Chamaeleon in Sicily 
has been asserted, denied, and re-asserted. 
Does the common Chamaeleon (like C. Brookesii ) belong to 
the list of what Alphonse de Candolle has termed ‘ disjointed 9 
species ? Thus, we find it recorded from northern and southern 
(but. scarcely from intertropical) Africa. This alleged distri- 
bution plainly suggests that of the many African species one or 
more may be varieties of this common form. Have we not here 
* For ‘west coast’ read ‘east coast’ in paragraph (275) of Sir John 
Herscliel’s article on ‘ Physical Geography,’ in the last edition of the 
Encyclopcedia Britannica. 
t See chap. xvii. of Darwin’s Naturalist's Voyage. 
j We do not forget the fossil found at Wyoming of which the following 
account has been published : — 
‘ Chameleo pristinusi Indicated by a lower jaw fragment containing 
eight teeth in a space of five lines. In every respect it agrees in character 
with the corresponding part in living species of the genus.’ 
So noteworthy a conclusion as the existence of Chamaeleons in North 
America during Eocene times must rest on fuller evidence than this passage 
affords. 
