Common chameleon

The common chameleon (Chamaeleo chamaeleon) is a mid-sized lizard of the family Chamaeleonidae, native to the Mediterranean rim from southern Iberia and Italy through North Africa to western Asia, with populations introduced to Malta. Adults measure 20–40 cm in total length and 17–56 g, and vary in colour between yellow-brown, green and grey-brown. They take orthopterans, mantises, beetles and other insects by sit-and-wait tongue projection, and favour scrub, pine woodland and gardens below about 800 m. The IUCN listed the species as Least Concern in 2012, and CITES Appendix II applies.