Unique Information

Chameleon 

• 59 of these species live on the island Madagascar
• communicate by changing colors
• can have a tongue up to 9 feet long
• its a myth chameleons change colors due to their environment
• 
  
  http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/kids/animals-pets-kids/reptiles-kids/chameleon-babies-kids.html

Skeletal and Muscular System

Muscular

• Sticky Tongue- stretches to catch prey
• Heart
• Tail: support for climbing and moving safely through branches with the grip function

Skeletal

• Jaw: crushes prey

Reproductive System

Reproductive System

• males bobb heads, inflate their throat, puff bodies, and display bright colors
• most species lay eggs
• in tunnels, pits, or under rocks and leaves
• keep eggs in cool and moist areas
• cover eggs with dirt to hide from predators
• most hatch 1 to 18 months later
• independent at birth
• some specied give birth to live young when they live in cold habitats
• sexual
• 1/5 give birth to live young 4 to 6 months after conception
• 6 to 30 babies

Digestive System

Digestive System

1. extremely extensive tongue that snaps up insects and out out of reach prey
2. tongue can be twice the body length
3. moveable eyes with 360 vision
4. most are carniverous and hunt for food
5. Body Parts:
1. jaws
2. small triangular teeth
3. tubular stomach
4. intestinal tract
5. cloaca: excretion

Circulatory System

Circulatory System

1. cold blooded
2. blood is low in red blood cells
3. they don't require oxygen to heat bodies
4. blood is caried through veins and arteries linking various organs to the lungs and the heart
5. 3 chambered heart
1. In the heart there is a venous and arterial blood mix that limits the amount of oxygenated blood reaching organs 

Respiratory System

Respiratory System

1. air breathing
2. gas exchange occurs through respiration in alveoli
1. small blood vessel-lined sacs where oxygen is taken in by the blood cells and carbon dioxide is given off
3. the lung can be unilobed or bilobed
4. few alveoli in lungs which limit the amount of oxygen taken in at one time which helps explain why they move at a slow pace.

Nervous System

Nervous System

• Hormones and nervers carry info through the body and are used for communication between cells.
• Brain with left and right hemispheres
• Spinal cord with ganglions
• nerves
• nerve sensors

Integumentary System

Integumentary (Skin) System

• A chameleons skin changes color to communicate. It also changes due to temperature, light, and mood.
• The transparent outer skin is made of two cell layers.
• these contain red and yellow pigment or chromatophores.
• cells that give skin color
• below chromatophores are the cell layers that reflect blue and white
• then theres a layer of brown melanin
• causes skin to darken
• levels of external light, heat, and internal chemical reactions cause thes cells to expand and contract

External Pictue of Veiled Chameleon

Classification

Chameleon Classification

1. has its own sub-family
1. Chamaeleoninae (divided into 2 tribes)
1. 33 species of Brookesiini (Dwarf family)
2. 100 species of Chamaeleonini (most typical family)
2. Believed there is 134 species and 8 new species have been identified since 1990
2. Kingdom: Anamalia
3. Phylum: Chordata
4. Class: Reptilia
5. Order: Squamata
6. Family: Chamaeleonidae