Page 11 - Chameleon

In their natural environment, most cha-
meleons blend in with their surroundings
pretty well, says expert biologists

OFFSPRING
Chameleons are different from many reptiles because some of the species,
like the Jackson’s chameleon, have live births. These species can give birth to
eight to 30 young at one time after a gestation of four to six months. While
the young are born live instead of in an egg, they started as an egg. These
mothers incubate the eggs, minus a shell, inside of her body instead of laying
them in a nest.
Other chameleon species lay eggs that have an incubation period of four
to 24 months, depending on species, according to the San Diego Zoo. The
size of the chameleon predicts how many eggs she will lay. Small chameleon
species lay two to four eggs while larger chameleons lay 80 to 100 eggs at one
time.
No matter what species, chameleons become mature at 1 to 2 years of age.
The exception is the Madagascan chameleon. It has been labeled as the verte-
brate with the world's shortest life span, according to Encyclopedia Britanni-
ca. Their eggs hatch in November, the young become adults in January, they
lay eggs in February, and then the entire adult population perishes after a
lifespan of just three months.

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