#grasslands

GSL 2 - Alan Paine Radebaugh , 2018.

American , b. 1952 -

Clap for the Flap-necked Chameleon!

The flap-necked chameleon (Chamaeleo dilepis) is a species of chameleon found throughout sub-Saharan Africa. They tend to reside in drier habitats including savannah, woodland, and coastal forests, as well as urban areas like gardens and parks.

Flap-necked chameleons are the largest members of the genus Chamaeleo, reaching up to 35 cm (14 in) in length from snout to tail and weigh anywhere from 200 to 350 g (7 to 12 oz). As with all chameleons, C. dilepis can change the color and patterns of its skin to regulate their temperature, surroundings, and emotional state. However, their base color is usually green, brown, or yellow with white stripes.

C. dilepis spends most of its time in trees or shrubs, and it is an adept climber, aided by its prehensile tail. Their ability to camouflage helps them ambush their prey-- mainly insects but also small lizards on occasion-- and hide from predators; namely snakes. Like most lizards, flap-necked chameleons are not social, and males and females spend most of the year in separate territories which they guard against intruders of either sex.

The breeding season begins in November and continues throughout the spring; 3-4 months later the female has dug a hole in the ground and laid anywhere from 10-40 eggs. The clutch can take up to 300-377 days to hatch depending on annual rainfall and average temperature. The young, when they emerge, are fully independent, and reach full maturity by 12 months old.

Conservation status: Flap-necked chameleons are considered Least Concern by the IUCN. However, the species is heavily harvested for the pet trade, and is also highly vulnerable to road mortalities during the breeding season.

Photos

Charles J. Sharp

Grant Reed

Result from the Agate Fossil Beds #paleostream! This early Miocene lagerstätte from Nebraska (USA) is a fantastic window into our understanding of the transition from forest communities to grassland biomes...

As such Agate features a very mixed community, ancient lineages like oreodonts were still thriving along newcomers like camels. And clades, like the horses, have grazers as well as browsers in their ranks. These herbivores have been found in some cases in large bonebeds...

preserving hundreds of specimen. Besides that we see early modern carnivores rising through the ranks of predators, but still: nothing could beat a fully grown Daeodon. The site today is a National Monument with museum that also houses a large collection of native american...

artifacts but back than these badlands hosted an oak savanna that became dryer over time. As such the deep, corkscrew burrows of Palaeocastor become very prominent at some point but it was still moist enough that you also find here Alligators and the...

largest Andrias (giant salamander) species we know. Much more could be said and shown here but I just leave you with the size chart by Discord member Gnath

Btw. as you can imagine the wonderful work of the Forgotten Bloodlines team was a huge inspiration and at point reference for this piece! Check out their work and the trailer for their upcoming documentary!