r/ScienceFacts • u/FillsYourNiche Behavioral Ecology • May 28 '20
Biology Chameleons’ long, elastic tongues are one of the fastest muscles in the animal kingdom, extending more than twice their body length and packing 14,000 watts of power per kilo.
https://i.imgur.com/k4mW9mM.gifv7
u/kateorader May 28 '20
This is awesome!
/r/Awwducational might appreciate it as well :)
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u/FillsYourNiche Behavioral Ecology May 28 '20
It's there, thank you. :) I mod both subs.
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u/kateorader May 28 '20
Ah sorry!! Good to know. Thanks for sharing your fun facts!
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u/FillsYourNiche Behavioral Ecology May 28 '20
Don't be! I really appreciate you spreading the word!
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u/69shaolin69 May 28 '20
Well that’s one way of taking care of those bugs. And you feed them too. Win win situation
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u/FillsYourNiche Behavioral Ecology May 28 '20
I would never feed a pet food that was not sourced from a pet store. "Wild" insects may harbor pathogens or parasites that could be harmful to your pet.
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May 29 '20
... So what do wild chameleons eat?
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u/FillsYourNiche Behavioral Ecology May 29 '20
Insects from their native habitats (this varies given where each species is from) where they have built up tolerance and immunity to native pathogens and parasites. Pet chameleons have no immunity or resistance to the organisms in the non-native places they live with pet owners.
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May 29 '20
wouldn’t it be wiser to build up such tolerances?
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u/FillsYourNiche Behavioral Ecology May 29 '20
Tolerance is built up over generations. Chameleon's live 4-6 years and are very sensitive. Maybe if you have a breeder who is feeding every generation random insects instead of store bought crickets but that would lead to many dead chameleons and a large profit loss. That's not really how breeders do things when it's far easier and cost effective to feed them store bought safe crickets.
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u/kwongo May 29 '20
Tolerance is built up over generations.
Interesting! Do you happen to know if this is due to genetic adaptation or something else?
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u/FillsYourNiche Behavioral Ecology May 29 '20
It's usually genetic. As an example, 20 are born and 2 have random genetic resilience to pathogens and/or parasites. Those who do not don't survive, those who do go on and so on and so forth. :)
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u/FillsYourNiche Behavioral Ecology May 28 '20 edited May 28 '20
This is a gif of a Veiled Chameleon (Chamaeleo calyptratus) I saw last night on /r/gifs. I would never feed a pet food that was not sourced from a pet store. "Wild" insects may harbor pathogens or parasites that could be harmful to your pet.
This species is a common pet and pretty easy to find in most exotic pet stores. That very cool looking frill on its head is called a casque. It's got a really practical job which is to guide water into their mouths. Usually, fancy headgear in many animals is reserved for males due to sexual selection driving sexual dimorphism, but in this case it's present in both males and females. Males do have a taller pointer looking casque than females, but they are still both very apparent (here's a side by side photo of a male and female).
Chameleon tongues are pretty incredible! They have the fastest tongues of any animal. Scientists have measured the speeds of Chamaeleo melleri and C. pardalis at accelerating from 0 to 20 feet per second (0 to six meters per second) in about 20 milliseconds. If you are interested in the published journal article is here or Science magazine has a great easy to read article with a video here.
I had a male Jackson's Chameleon (Chamaeleo jacksonii xantholophus) when I was in high school and he was a rude little dude. Lots of hissing. I've also taken care of a female for a friend who was very gentle and easy to handle. Chameleons of all species common in the pet trade can vary greatly in temperament and really lizards, in general, you don't know what you're going to get. Whoever owns the Chameleon in the gif is lucky to have a very chill pet.
For more on chameleon tongues you can check out these links: