typhlonectes:The Colorful Language of ChameleonsChameleons communicate with color change, hunt with
typhlonectes:The Colorful Language of ChameleonsChameleons communicate with color change, hunt with lightning-fast tongues—and live in some of Earth’s most threatened habitats.by Patricia EdmondsPhotographs by Christian ZieglerScientists recently have made important discoveries about chameleon physiology by watching the lizards in captivity. Their future in the wild, meanwhile, is far from certain.When the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) released a new Red List assessment of chameleons last November, it ranked at least half the species as threatened or near threatened. Anderson is a member of the IUCN Chameleon Specialist Group, as is biologist Krystal Tolley, a National Geographic grantee whose expeditions in southern Africa have documented new chameleon species and vanishing habitats. (Read Tolley’s blog posts from her expeditions.)In Afrikaans, says Tolley, chameleons have two common names. One isverkleurmannetjies, which means “colorful little men.” The other, trapsuutjies, translates as “treading carefully.” That refers to the lizards’ odd, slow gait—but also could be read as a plea to conserve the curious species and their home terrain…(read more: National Geographic) -- source link
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