Sahel chameleon
Chamaeleo africanus Laurenti, 1768
Status not recordedlizards
The sahel chameleon (Chamaeleo africanus) is a species in the family Chamaeleonidae, order Squamata. Recorded adults weigh about 66.3 g, reach 15.3 cm in length and live up to 1.8 years.
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Quick facts about the sahel chameleon
- Weight
- 66.3 g
- Length
- 15.3 cm
- Lifespan
- 1.8 years
- Diet
- Omnivore
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- grassland, shrubland
- Egg incubation
- 176 days
- Young per litter or clutch
- 15 – 53
- Age at maturity
- 12 months – 15 months
- Reproduction
- Eggs
- Active
- By day (diurnal)
- Lifestyle
- Arboreal
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the sahel chameleon?
Where does the sahel chameleon live?
Not recorded
Is the sahel chameleon endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the sahel chameleon classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classReptilia
- orderSquamata
- familyChamaeleonidae
- genusChamaeleo
- SpeciesChamaeleo africanus Laurenti, 1768
Synonyms Chamaeleo aegyptius, Chamaeleo basiliscus, Chamaeleo calcaratus, Chamaeleon basilicus, Chamaeleon basiliscus
Other names and names in other languages (18)
- African chameleonEnglish
- Basilisk chameleonEnglish
- حرباء أفريقيةArabic
- chameleon africkýCzech
- Afrikansk kamæleonDanish
- BasiliskenchamäleonGerman
- Αφρικανικός ΧαμαιλέονταςGreek
- Camaléon africanoSpanish
- afrikankameleonttiFinnish
- Caméléon africainFrench
- afrikai kaméleonHungarian
- バシリスクカメレオンJapanese
- SahelkameleonDutch
- Африканский хамелеонRussian
- 非洲變色龍Chinese
- Afrikanisches ChamäleonGerman
- Basilisken-ChamäleonGerman
- Afrikaanse KameleonDutch
Relatives of the sahel chameleon
Other species in the same genus Chamaeleo.

Common chameleon
Chamaeleo chamaeleon
Yemen chameleon
Chamaeleo calyptratus
Asian chameleon
Chamaeleo zeylanicus
Desert chameleon
Chamaeleo namaquensis
Flapneck chameleon
Chamaeleo dilepis
Monk chameleon
Chamaeleo monachus
CompareSahel chameleon vs Common chameleonSahel chameleon vs Yemen chameleonSahel chameleon vs Asian chameleonSahel chameleon vs Desert chameleon
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the sahel chameleon?
An adult sahel chameleon weighs 66.3 g and measures 15.3 cm long, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
How long does the sahel chameleon live?
The sahel chameleon has a recorded lifespan of 1.8 years.
What kind of animal is the sahel chameleon?
The sahel chameleon (Chamaeleo africanus) belongs to the family Chamaeleonidae in the order Squamata.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
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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 - AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits · CC BY 4.0 · v1
Oliveira, B.F., São-Pedro, V.A., Santos-Barrera, G., Penone, C. & Costa, G.C. (2017) AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits. Scientific Data 4: 170123. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.123. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4644424.v5 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - 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). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Shirey, V., Larsen, E., Doherty, A. et al. (2022) LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits. Scientific Data 9: 382. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01473-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.19874602.v1 - Northwestern European arthropod life histories and ecological traits (raw datasets) · CC BY 4.0 · 2024-12-17
Logghe, G., Batsleer, F., Maes, D. et al. (2025) An in-depth dataset of northwestern European arthropod life histories and ecological traits. Biodiversity Data Journal 13: e146785. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.13.e146785. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13379714 - ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles · CC BY 4.0 · v1-2
Oskyrko, O., Mi, C., Meiri, S. et al. (2024) ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data 11: 243. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4 - Sharkipedia: a curated open access database of shark and ray life history traits · CC BY 4.0 · 1.0-2022-06-17
Mull, C.G., Pacoureau, N., Pardo, S.A. et al. (2022) Sharkipedia: a curated open access database of shark and ray life history traits and abundance time-series. Scientific Data 9: 559. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01655-1. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6656525 - SquamBase 1.0 - a dataset of squamate species traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0-dryad-v5
Meiri, S. (2024) SquamBase - a database of squamate (Reptilia: Squamata) traits. Global Ecology and Biogeography 33(4): e13812. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13812. Data: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b - TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe · CC BY 4.0 · 2.0
Chauvier, Y., Adde, A., Bergamini, A. et al. (2025) TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15063844 - 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).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Sahel chameleon (Chamaeleo africanus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/sahel-chameleon
“Sahel chameleon (Chamaeleo africanus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/sahel-chameleon.
@misc{sahel_chameleon_2026,
title = {Sahel chameleon (Chamaeleo africanus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/sahel-chameleon},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}