Q 01/05

Roughly how many chameleon species are known to science?

A) About 20

B) About 200

C) About 2,000

D) About 20,000

Answer · why

B) About 200

About 200. Older references list about 150, and the tally keeps growing as new species are named: one described in 2021 is known from only two specime...

Q 02/05

A large share of the world's chameleon species live only on which island?

A) Borneo

B) Sri Lanka

C) Madagascar

D) New Guinea

Answer · why

C) Madagascar

Madagascar. Even a single species varies across the island: male panther chameleons are turquoise on Nosy Be and red or pink in other districts, so br...

Q 03/05

Chameleons have been introduced to which two places outside their native range?

A) Japan and Taiwan

B) Hawaii and Florida

C) Australia and New Zealand

D) Mexico and Cuba

Answer · why

B) Hawaii and Florida

Hawaii and Florida. Hawaii's wild Jackson's chameleons trace back to pets released at Kaneohe in 1972, and they have since settled on several of the i...

Q 04/05

The chameleon's grasping tail is often nicknamed what?

A) A safety rope

B) A rudder

C) A fifth limb

D) A second tongue

Answer · why

C) A fifth limb

A fifth limb. It coils round a branch to hold the chameleon steady, which frees the feet to reach for the next hold.

Q 05/05

The Greek roots of the word 'chameleon' translate literally as what?

A) Ground lion

B) Little dragon

C) Tree lizard

D) Slow walker

Answer · why

A) Ground lion

Ground lion. Khamai means 'on the ground' and leon 'lion', perhaps because the head crest of some species looked like a lion's mane.