If you think that kittens and puppies are cute, wait till you get a load of these baby chameleons! The Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia, recently welcomed more than 20 newborns to their family. Each of the reptiles is about two inches long, and they’re so small that they comfortably rest on adult-sized fingers as well as the tip of a pencil. How adorable!
These tiny green creatures are technically called veiled chameleons. Native to Yemen and Saudi Arabia, this group now lives in a temperature-controlled area behind the scenes at Taronga’s Reptile World. Chameleons are known for their color-changing abilities, and this species will sometimes shift their skin color in response to temperature changes, fear, or courtship. Right now they’re sporting a bright green hue, but they’ll be mature enough to show their full range of color – including aqua, yellow, and even dark brown – within a year.
Veiled chameleons aren’t endangered and play an important educational role at the zoo. They help the staff get visitors excited about reptiles and the conservation of different reptile species.
Taronga Zoo website and Facebook page
via [Laughing Squid, Bored Panda, and Daily Mail]