A Chameleon (and egg tarts) in Portugal

Chamaeleo chamaeleon

I have always wanted to see a Common Chameleon (Chamaeleo chamaeleon). Only once having visited a place within the range where they might have been found in the past (Crete) that is not surprising. So this one found in southern Portugal between a golf course and a tidal lagoon during a Naturetrek* trip earlier this month was a delight.

The chameleons live in low pine trees on sandy soil along the southern coast of Portugal and Spain. The breeding season comes much later in the year. Then males take to the ground in order  to search for females which they will guard. Eggs are laid in soft sandy soil. Growth of the young is rapid.

Chameleons in general are interesting in that they have widely different lifespans. Some are effectively an ‘annual’, all the preceding generation dying before their eggs have hatched. At the other extreme, some species live for ten or more years. The Common Chameleon is at the low end of the range: 2-3 years.

The Common Chameleon occurs along the coastal region of North Africa, the Middle East and Turkey and then down the eastern side of the Red Sea. To those of us of a certain age, tales of chameleons in North Africa were brought back by those who had served in the British Eighth and First Armies or in RAF bases in Egypt. The swivelling eyes, the tongue, the colour changes and their deliberate movement along branches were recounted to the extent that it seemed the whole population knew of chameleons and their habits. For some soldiers encounters with wildlife (sometimes, like jerboas and fennec foxes—and chameleons—reared and kept as pets) were their only experiences of war shared with their families. Herpetologists on both sides were known to have studied the animals encountered in North Africa and I dare say that tales of the chameleons also reached the children in Germany.

Recently, it has been argued that the chameleon was introduced into southern Spain and Portugal but with widely differing dates. The distribution map in IUCN’s Red List shows that part of the range as such. I am skeptical. After all the ranges of other species of reptile span the Straits of Gibraltar.

A chameleon and Portuguese Egg Tarts—who could want for more?

*Naturetrek’s Spring in Southern Portugal brilliantly led by Lara Broom (who knows how to spot a chameleon) and Glyn Evans.