---
title: "Indian Chameleon"
description: "Chamaeleo zeylanicus — Rettili. The Indian chameleon (Chamaeleo zeylanicus) is a species of chameleon found in Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and select other parts of South Asia."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/it/animal/indian-chameleon
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Indian Chameleon

> Chamaeleo zeylanicus — Rettili. The Indian chameleon (Chamaeleo zeylanicus) is a species of chameleon found in Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and select other parts of South Asia.

- Scientific name: *Chamaeleo zeylanicus*
- Category: `reptiles` (Rettili)
- Habitats: `forest` (Foresta)
- iNaturalist observations: 1211
- Wikidata: [Q2700540](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2700540)
- iNaturalist taxon: [32810](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/32810)

## Names

- en: Indian Chameleon
- de: Indisches Chamäleon
- es: Camaleón de la India
- fr: Caméléon de Ceylan

## Countries with the most observations

IN (1093), PK (3)

## Summary

The Indian chameleon (Chamaeleo zeylanicus) is a species of chameleon found in Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and select other parts of South Asia. Like other chameleons, this species moves slowly with a bobbing or swaying movement (attempting to mimic swaying branches) and are usually arboreal. They have an extremely long and sticky tongue, which they use to catch insects from several feet away. Also like other chameleons, C. zeylanicus has bifurcated feet with a tongs-like shape, a prehensile tail, independent eye movement, and the ability to rapidly change skin colouring and patterns. Despite common misconceptions…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_chameleon

## Photo

![Indian Chameleon](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/indian-chameleon/medium.jpg)

Photo: S.MORE · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/95874708

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/indian-chameleon?lang=it` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).