Common chameleon
Chamaeleo chamaeleon (Linnaeus, 1758)
The common chameleon (Chamaeleo chamaeleon), also called the Mediterranean chameleon, is a lizard in the family Chamaeleonidae, order Squamata. It is a small reptile with an adult body mass of 36.49 g and a body length of 11.89 cm.
Quick facts about the common chameleon
Its main foods are beetle and heteroptera. It lays 30 eggs per clutch, one clutch per year, with an incubation period of 203.5 days, and the IUCN lists it as Least Concern, not a threatened category.
- Weight
- 36.5 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- 11.9 cmsrc for Length
- Lifespan
- 3.6 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Main food
- beetle, heteropterasrc for Main food
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Egg incubation
- 204 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 30src for Young per litter or clutch
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the common chameleon?
Photos of the common chameleon
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the common chameleon live?
Not recorded
What is the common chameleon?
The common chameleon or Mediterranean chameleon (Chamaeleo chamaeleon) is a species of chameleon native to the Mediterranean Basin and parts surrounding the Red Sea. It is the only extant species of Chamaeleonidae with a range that naturally extends into Europe.
From the Wikipedia article “Common chameleon” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Common_chameleon&oldid=1371851335), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the common chameleon endangered?
The common chameleon is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the common chameleon classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classReptilia
- orderSquamata
- familyChamaeleonidae
- genusChamaeleo
- SpeciesChamaeleo chamaeleon (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Cameleo siculus, Chamaeleo cinereus, Chamaeleo cinereus, Chamaeleo parisiensium, Chamaeleo saharicus, Chamaeleo vulgaris, Chamaeleo vulgaris var. musae, Chamaeleo vulgaris var. recticrista, Chamaeleon auratus, Chamaeleon fasciatus, Chamaeleon mntabiiis, Chamaeleon rimulosus, Chamaeleon vulgaris, Lacerta chamaeleon
Other names and names in other languages (44)
- Mediterranean chameleonEnglish
- Mediterranean chameleonEnglish
- Mediterranean chameleonEnglish
- حرباء شائعةArabic
- حرباء البحر المتوسطArabic
- camaleón mediterraneuAsturian
- Adi buqələmunAzerbaijani
- Kameleon boutinBreton
- Camaleó comúCatalan
- chameleon obecnýCzech
- Almindelig kamæleonDanish
- Gemeines ChamäleonGerman
- Europäisches ChamäleonGerman
- Gewöhnliches ChamäleonGerman
- Κοινός ΧαμαιλέονταςGreek
- Μεσογειακός ΧαμαιλέονταςGreek
- Camaleón ComúnSpanish
- آفتابپرست معمولیPersian
- välimerenkameleonttiFinnish
- Caméléon communFrench
- זיקית מצויהHebrew
- זיקית מובהקתHebrew
- זיקית ים-תיכוניתHebrew
- Európai kaméleonHungarian
- közönséges kaméleonHungarian
- Սովորական քամելեոնArmenian
- camaleonte comuneItalian
- Camaleonte mediterraneoItalian
- チチュウカイカメレオンJapanese
- обичен камелеонMacedonian
- Vanlig KameleonNorwegian Bokmål
- Mediterrane KameleonDutch
- Gewone KameleonDutch
- Kameleon pospolityPolish
- CamaleãoPortuguese
- Camaleão-comumPortuguese
- Camaleão-mediterrânicoPortuguese
- Обыкновенный хамелеонRussian
- Vanlig kameleontSwedish
- BukalemunTurkish
- Akdeniz BukalemunuTurkish
- Bayağı BukalemunTurkish
- Хамелеон звичайнийUkrainian
- 地中海變色龍Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistITISWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the common chameleon
Other species in the same genus Chamaeleo.
Yemen chameleon
Chamaeleo calyptratus
Asian chameleon
Chamaeleo zeylanicus
Desert chameleon
Chamaeleo namaquensis
Flapneck chameleon
Chamaeleo dilepis
Sahel chameleon
Chamaeleo africanus
Monk chameleon
Chamaeleo monachus
CompareCommon chameleon vs Yemen chameleonCommon chameleon vs Asian chameleonCommon chameleon vs Desert chameleonCommon chameleon vs Flapneck chameleon
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the common chameleon?
The common chameleon is a lizard, a reptile in the family Chamaeleonidae and the suborder Iguania.
How big is the common chameleon?
It has a body length of 11.89 cm and an adult body mass of 36.49 g, placing it in the small size class.
What does the common chameleon eat?
Its main foods are beetle and heteroptera.
Is the common chameleon endangered?
No. The IUCN lists it as Least Concern (LC), which is not a threatened category.
How long does the common chameleon live?
Its lifespan is given as 3.6 years.
How many eggs does the common chameleon lay?
It lays 30 eggs per clutch, with 1 clutch per year, and the eggs incubate for 203.5 days.
Who named the common chameleon?
Its scientific name, Chamaeleo chamaeleon, carries the authority (Linnaeus, 1758).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
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CreatureData. (2026). Common chameleon (Chamaeleo chamaeleon). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-chameleon
“Common chameleon (Chamaeleo chamaeleon).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-chameleon.
@misc{common_chameleon_2026,
title = {Common chameleon (Chamaeleo chamaeleon)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-chameleon},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}