EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

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Flap-neck Chameleon

Credit & Copyright: Dr. Bruce G. Marcot

Explanation: Frozen in a territorial stance, this Flap-neck Chameleon of southern Africa is trying its best to avoid an attack that never comes.  When threatened, they compress their bodies laterally, freeze into position, and sway to and fro, mimicking a swaying leaf in the breeze.  But we know better. Flap-neck Chameleons will bite readily if further provoked, but usually only after it issues its threat display ... by inflating its body, widening its throat, raising the occipital flaps, and opening its mouth to expose the red-orange lining, an example of warning coloration found in many animals.   This slow and mostly harmless reptile is greatly feared by some local tribal people as it appears in their folklore.  This species is not rare but other chameleons are and need our conservation attention. At night, Flap-neck Chameleons turn bright blue-white, but during the day it tries hard to blend into the vegetation, gaining and losing black spots and altering the intensity of its green matrix color (shown in the above image).  Eventually, it slinks back into the grass, where it disappears quickly ... (where did it go? ... find out here!).