Carpet chameleon

The carpet chameleon, Furcifer lateralis, is a small chameleon found only in eastern Madagascar, where it is also called the jewel chameleon or the white-lined chameleon. Adults of both sexes reach a total length of about 17 to 25 centimetres. Males are mostly green with whitish, yellowish and dark markings, while the heavier-bodied females are darker and can carry a wide range of blackish, white, blue, yellow and orange marks. Both sexes have a striped throat and lips and a lateral line along the body. The animals change colour with mood and conditions, and they often start the day dark so that they warm quickly in the sun. The species lives from about 120 to 1,925 metres above sea level in forests, shrubby areas, grasslands and well-vegetated gardens, and it tolerates some habitat degradation. It matures within about three months of hatching, rarely lives beyond three years, and a female can lay eight to twenty-three eggs in a clutch and up to three clutches a year. Two populations once included here are now treated as separate species, Furcifer major and Furcifer viridis. The IUCN rates it Least Concern, and an annual quota of animals may be collected for the pet trade.