00:00Hey everyone, I'm Jeremy. I'm a reptile keeper here at the San Diego Zoo, and every day I get to work with awesome animals such as lizards, snakes, turtles, and frogs.
00:10But today, we'll be talking about a fascinating lizard, the ocelot's chameleon.
00:19Ocelot's chameleon are native to Madagascar, an island off the southeast coast of Africa.
00:24Chameleons like this can grow up to two feet long.
00:27Whoa, now that's a big chameleon.
00:29You're right, it is. In fact, it's one of the largest chameleons on the planet.
00:32And take a look at those eyes.
00:34Instead of having an upper and lower eyelid, like you and I have, chameleons have a single cone-shaped eyelid.
00:40This almost completely covers the eye, leaving only a little hole that exposes the pupil.
00:45Each eye can move independently and focus on two separate objects at the same time.
00:49They can actually move their eyes up to 180 degrees.
00:52Can you imagine if we can move our eyes independently?
00:55This adaptation comes in handy when the chameleon is searching for its prey.
01:04And since we're on the topic of prey, ocelot's chameleons have an interesting technique for hunting.
01:09When an unsuspecting insect, lizard, or small bird happens by,
01:13its extremely long, suction cup-tipped tongue darts out to snare the meal-to-be.
01:18The tongue, which is spring-loaded and shoots forward much like a bow and arrow,
01:23can extend to nearly twice the length of the entire chameleon.
01:26Nope, not even close.
01:30Another really cool characteristic of these guys is their feet.
01:33The feet of the chameleons are highly adapted to movement in trees.
01:37On each foot, there are five clearly distinguished toes that are bundled into a flattened section
01:41of either two or three toes, giving a tongue-like appearance.
01:45These specialized feet allow chameleons to grip tightly onto narrow or rough branches.
01:49And for a little extra security, when up in those trees,
01:53ocelot's chameleons are equipped with a prehensile tail to aid with stability.
01:59A common question I get from guests at the zoo is...
02:02Why do chameleons change colors?
02:04That's an excellent question!
02:06One of the reasons why chameleons change their color is to communicate with other chameleons.
02:10They might change their color to impress a female or to defend their territory against another male.
02:16Another use of color-changing ability is camouflage.
02:18They can often blend in quite well with their backgrounds.
02:21This aids in both hunting and avoiding predators.
02:24There are so many cool and interesting facts about the ocelot's chameleon.
02:28I could go on for days, but I have a lot of other reptiles to take care of.
02:31So I'm going to put this guy back on exhibit.
02:33I'll see you guys later!
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