This story appears in the September 2015 issue of National Geographic magazine. For sheer breadth of freakish anatomical features, the chameleon has few rivals. A tongue far longer than its body ...

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The blue rod visible inside the lizard’s throat is attached to the chameleon’s famously long tongue. A muscle called the lingual accelerator muscle surrounds the rod, and its contraction stores the ...

This veiled chameleon is getting ready to score its next meal. These lizards have a ballistic tongue that can shoot out the length of their entire body or more. Get a closer view of the image Get a ...

Incredible tongue lengthA chameleon's tongue is a remarkable tool. It can be twice the length of its body and is capable of shooting out at incredible speeds to catch prey. The tip of the tongue ...

There’s a story that the chameleon looks so bizarre because it was made by the Devil from spare parts. It is said to have the tail of a monkey, the skin of a crocodile, the tongue of a toad ...

Masters of camouflage, chameleons are also some of the fastest vertebrates in the world. Elastic tissue and muscle surrounding the hyoid (a tongue-anchoring bone also present in mammals and birds) ...

Chameleons have great eyesight and can move each of their eyes 180˚ independently without moving their head. This means they can use their long, sticky tongue to capture prey, all without moving.