Labord’s Chameleons Die Young – Possible Cause: Violent Sex

After spending most of its lifespan incubating inside its shell, a tiny chameleon that only lives in southwestern Madagascar, hatches, engages in brutal sex and then dies.

Image: Christopher J. Raxworthy

Real name Furcifer labordi or Labord’s chameleon, it’s one of the smallest known chameleons on Earth. It’s also become famous for being able to quadruple or quintuple its body size in just 60 days. Males are slightly bigger (up to 9cm) than females (up to 7cm).

Kris Karsten at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, US, studied the growth patterns, lifespans and behavior of these little fellows. He came out with some great facts that have been detailed in the July 1 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Apparently they hatch in synchrony in early November, for six-seven weeks they grow up to 0.1 inches a day (much faster than any known lizard) and reach maturity, mate and then before April they all die after losing strength – no exceptions.

Image: Daniel Rakotondravony

Just before dying the chameleon females burrow through about a half foot of sand to lay a dozen eggs that will again hatch in November, to continue the cycle.

“It is amazing to think that for most of the year, this chameleon species is represented only by developing eggs buried in the ground,” said Christopher J. Raxworthy, of the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

Too much sex

After studying them for five seasons and seeing more than 400 F. labordi chameleons, Kris Karsten thinks that because of “violent sex” they lose much of their strength, this being the reason why they die so young. Karsten and his colleagues saw several falling out of trees for no apparent reason.

“These males will fight fiercely in long, rather drawn-out combats, and their courtship behaviour is also rather violent,” Karsten told New Scientist.

Most of the chameleons in Madagascar hibernate during the dry season to conserve energy, but not the Labord’s chameleon. Researchers are now trying to figure out why!

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