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Anderson Lab

Comparative Functional Morphology, Biomechanics & the Physiology of Movement

University of South Dakota, Department of Biology

Chameleon Feeding Movies

Rhampholeon (Rhampholeon) spinosus

© 2009 Christopher V. Anderson

Trioceros jacksonii

This video shows a male Mt. Kenya Yellow-crested Jackson’s Chameleon (Trioceros jacksonii xantholophus) feeding on a silkworm. This chameleon was 10cm Snout-to-vent length and extends its tongue to a total distance of 13.5cm in this feeding sequence. The video was filmed at 3000 frames per second and is played back at a rate of 30 frames per second (slowed down 100x). In this feeding sequence, the tongue achieves a peak velocity of 4.1 m/s.