Chamaeleo namaquensis
Silhouette: Alex Slavenko · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week >90%
The Namaqua chameleon (Chamaeleo namaquensis) is a ground-living lizard found in the western desert regions of Namibia, South Africa and southern Angola. Chamaeleo namaquensis is one of the largest chameleon species in southern Africa, and reaches up to 25 cm in length. Females are larger than males, though the latter are proportionately more robust and have larger heads and head ornamentation, as well as a bulge under the tail base due to the presence of hemipenes. Its tail is far shorter than its body and those of other arboreal chameleons as an adaptation to its primarily terrestrial habitat. It has large dorsal spines and a prominent, pointed casque on the back of its head and lacks the neck flap of other Chamaeleo species. Like many chameleons, this species has nasal salt glands which excretes excess minerals such as sodium chloride and potassium.
It has hygroscopic skin, and shares a feature with some other lizards (such as the thorny devil, Texas horned lizard, Saara hardwickii, and the giant girdled lizard) in that it can drink moisture in contact with its scales through capillary action.
Although capable of changing colour, this... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Namib-Naukluft National Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia |
More parks will be added in future updates.
No species of the same family or order lives in Namib-Naukluft National Park, so these are its closest relatives here: other reptiles.
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Namaqua Chameleon sighting in Namib-Naukluft National Park on a given day, based on 88 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 4th most-seen of the 39 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January to June
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Namaqua Chameleon in Namib-Naukluft National Park on a given day, against about 10% in November, the lowest month.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Namaqua Chameleon sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Namib-Naukluft National Park, in our data
Namib-Naukluft National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Namaqua Chameleon sightings: about 40% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Namaqua Chameleon is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Namib-Naukluft National Park (88 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
