Panther Chameleon

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Reptilia

Family: Squamata

Order: Iguania

Genus: Chamaeleonidae

Species: Furcifer

Species: F. Paradalis

Subspecies

There are 7 subspecies of the Panther Chameleon.

-Ambanja panther chameleons

-Ambilobe panther chameleon

-Ankaramy panther chameleon

-Nosy Be panther chameleon

-Nosy Faly panther chameleon

-The Tamatave panther chameleon

-Sambava Panther Chameleon

Panther Chameleons are believed to exist since 56 to 66 million years ago in the Paleocene period.

Besides other chameleon species, the iguana is the most closely related to the Panther Chameleon.

3 Ancestors

Iguana
Salamanders
Chameleons aren't too closely related to any other lizard besides iguanas.

Physical Description

Panther Chameleons posses a variety of very bright colors. Males have a broken white stripe that goes down the length of the body. Females tend to be more tan, grey, or a pale green. They have eyes that rotate indivisually to help eye prey. their tails help them keep balance whe they are sitting on branches all day.

Key Characteristics

The Panther Chameleon is one of the most colorful chameleons species, especially the males. They have the ability to change color according to their surrondings and temper. They have independent rotating eyes. they also have a tongue that shoots out to catch food.

Other

Size: Males can reach up to 14-21 inches in body length, females can reach between 9-13 inches in size.

Weight: Males weigh about 200-220 grams and females weigh about 140-160 grams.

Life Span: Males live about 5-7 years, females live about 2-3 years (if they lay eggs).

Differences between male and female: Males tend to be larger in size. Males have a different look, a brighter colored body. males are also larger in size and live longer.

Habitat

Panther Chameleons are native to the coastal and northern areas of Madagascar.
They live in trees, bushes, and mostly in the coastal lowlands where its warm and humid.
Annual rainfall is about 80 inches
Panther Chameleons often are found in trees such as Bismarck palms and Tapia trees.
Ring-tailed lemurs, Parsons Chameleons, and the Madagascar Ground Boa are all animals native to the island.
The average temperature is around 73 degrees ferenheit- 85 degrees ferenheit.
The terrain varies with a narrow coastal plain, high plateau and mountains in center.

Distribution

The Panther Chameleon specifically, is found only on the continent of Africa.
Panther Chameleons aren't invasive to Madagascar.

Diet

Panther Chameleons eat crickets, mealworms, waxworms, super worms, grasshoppers, silkworms, and Madagascar roaches of appropriate size.
Baby chameleons will eat multiple insects a day but adult chameleons will eat a few insects every other day. They will also eat plants sometimes for hydration.
Chameleons use their tongue that shoots out to grab insects off of branches. they can also bite into leaves to eat.
They don't have any special foods.

Social Structure

Panther Chameleons are very solitary and territorial so they live alone.
They play an important part in managing the ecosystem and insect population, much like frogs and bats.
Chameleons communicate three basic things to predators and other chameleons: territorial messages, receptive messages and nonreceptive or deterrent messages. They do this by changing the color of their skin.

Reproduction

Panther Chamelons will mate about once a year.
They can have multiple mates.
July-September is the prime time for mating
The male chamelon will approach the female and if the female is ready to mate, then the male will proceed.
The female will lay anywhere from 2-4 eggs
Males are ready to breed immediately. Females must be ready before they accept advances. Unreceptive females turn black, hiss, gape and attempt to bite males. Females who are ready change from their normal brown, white and khaki colors to a beautiful salmon pink.

Development

Chamelons are born tiny and grow pretty fast. They hit full size at about 8 months.
Males are ready to reproduce at about 8 months and females take a bit longer but are ready around 8 months.
Baby chamelons are ready to thrive the second they hatch and dig themsleves out of their nest.
Male panther chameleons will develop a small lump at the base of the tail, while females do not.

Causes of Death

Chameleons are at the bottom of the food chain. Snakes, birds such as shrikes, coucals, and horn-bills, and sometimes, even monkeys prey on chameleons.
Only two females should be together, males and females(if not ready to breed) as well as two males may become aggressive toward each other.
Stomatitis (Mouth Rot) As one of the most common diseases in chameleons, stomatitis affects the oral cavity, tongue, palate, and/or esophagus, Respiratory Infections, and Skin Disorders are common among these reptiles.
Chronic stress is a serious killer for all chameleon species. This mostly occurs when in captivity but stress is very harsh on a chameleon's health.

Competition

Chamelons may have to compete for food with other insect-eating reptiles but overall there isn't much issues with inter-species and intra-species.
There arent many problems with invasive species with panther chamelons in the wild.

IUCN Rating

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
It's hard to estimate the population of these chameleons because they are so widespread and hidden but there are estimated 451,730 individuals of this species on the island of Nosy Be in northeastern Madagascar.
The population tends to go up more in the summer/fall

Impacts of Humans

As well as being exported to the pet trade they also started disappearing due to deforestation in their natural habitat.
There isn't much concern for the future of the panther chameleons because of their huge population
Humans have been interacting with this species by putting them into the pet trade, especially in the United States.
There isn't many efforts being made to protect chameleons because they are least concern