Wildlifeof Madagascar
Parson's Chameleon
Calumma Chameleons
Photo: Charles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0
Calumma parsonii
Basic stats
Diet
Mainly insects; occasionally lizards and small birds
Habitat
Humid primary forest, also disturbed habitat with trees, from the lowlands to about 1,195m
Range
Eastern and northern Madagascar
Clutch size
20–60 eggs
Size
Usually up to about 50cm; reports of 60cm
Weight
Adult males usually 500–700g
Parson's chameleon is usually considered the heaviest chameleon in the world, though the Malagasy giant chameleon (Furcifer oustaleti) can be longer. Adult males usually weigh 500–700g and have a casque on the head and warty ridges from above the eyes to the nose that form two 'horns'. Males are mostly green or turquoise, and regional variants include a 'yellow lip' form from Ranomafana and a 'green giant' form from Masoala. Females are smaller, greenish, with little or no nose projection (Wikipedia, general species account).
It is a slow-moving sit-and-wait predator, more active in the breeding season. It also has one of the longest incubation periods of any reptile, with eggs buried about 30cm deep taking 400–660 days to hatch, and one hatched after 781 days. A female breeds once a year at most, often skipping a season. It is long-lived for a chameleon: wild males are known to reach at least nine years, and captive animals have reached 14 (Wikipedia; AnAge).
Legal exports from Madagascar are restricted by annual quota. It is a target species on this guide at Andasibe-Mantadia and Ranomafana, where the local variants differ.
Quick answers
- What does the Parson's Chameleon eat?
- Mainly insects; occasionally lizards and small birds
- What habitat does the Parson's Chameleon live in?
- Humid primary forest, also disturbed habitat with trees, from the lowlands to about 1,195m
- Where is the Parson's Chameleon found?
- Eastern and northern Madagascar
- How many eggs does the Parson's Chameleon lay?
- 20–60 eggs
- How big is the Parson's Chameleon?
- Usually up to about 50cm; reports of 60cm
- How much does the Parson's Chameleon weigh?
- Adult males usually 500–700g