Chamaeleo chamaeleon, Germasogeia, Cyprus, Photo:  Augusta Stylianou Artist

Cladus: Eukaryota
Supergroup: Opisthokonta
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Classis: Reptilia
Subclassis: Diapsida
Infraclassis: Lepidosauromorpha
Superordo: Lepidosauria
Ordo: Squamata
Subordo: Sauria
Infraordo: Iguania
Familia: Chamaeleonidae
Subfamilia: Chamaeleoninae
Genus: Chamaeleo
Species: Chamaeleo chamaeleon
Subspecies: C. c. chamaeleon - C. c. musae - C. c. orientalis - C. c. recticrista

Name

Chamaeleo chamaeleon (Linnaeus, 1758)

Type locality: “Africa, Asia”.

Synonyms

* Lacerta chamaeleon Linnaeus] 1758: 204
* Chamaeleo parisiensium Laurenti 1768
* Chamaeleon vulgaris - Daudin 1802
* Cameleo siculus Grohmann 1832
* Chamaeleo Vulgaris — Duméril & Bibron 1836: 204
* Chamaeleo cinereus Strauch 1862 (Boettger 1874 fide Schleich et al.)
* Chamaeleon auratus Gray 1865 (syn. Ch. chamaeleon orientalis)
* Chamaeleon fasciatus Smith 1866
* Chamaeleo saharicus Müller 1887
* Chameleon parisientium - Bosca 1880 (err. pro Chamaeleo parisiensium Laurenti 1768)
* Chamaeleo carinatus - Merrem 1820 (n. subst. pro Ch. parisiensium Laurenti 1768)
* Chamaeleon chamaeleon saharicus — Werner 1911: 10

References

* Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentii Salvii, Holmiæ. 10th Edition: 824 pp.
* Schleich,H.H., Kästle,W., Kabisch, K. 1996. Amphibians and Reptiles of North Africa. Koeltz, Koenigstein, 627 pp.
* Necas, Petr 1999. Chameleons - Nature's Hidden Jewels. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt; 348 pp.; ISBN 3-930612-04-6 (Europe) ISBN 1-57524-137-4 (USA, Canada).
* Chamaeleo chamaeleon at the New Reptile Database. Accessed on 16 Mar 2008.

Vernacular names
Internationalization
Česky: Chameleon obecný
English: Common Chameleon
Polski: Kameleon pospolity

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The Common Chameleon is the only species of Chamaleonidae of Europe.

Subspecies

Four sub-species are identified:

* Chamaeleo chamaeleon chamaeleon
* Chamaeleo chamaeleon musae
* Chamaeleo chamaeleon orientalis
* Chamaeleo chamaeleon rectricrista

Distribution

In Europe: Southern Greece (Aegean Islands, Crete, Chios, Samos), Malta, Southern Portugal, Southern Spain, Cyprus.

In North Africa and the Middle East: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt,Jordan, Western Sahara, SW Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Southeastern Turkey.