Nah, no real use for the casque besides display. Anything that seems to be at odds with survival, horns, frills, crests, ornimentation of any sort is almost always attributable to two things : Sex or fighting for Sex.



If they are of no benifit to survival, they must be of a benifit to reproduction.



Veileds probably solve 99% of their territorial disputes by sight - same with panthers. Little guys run away. They learn, too. If they are raised by themselves, they'll charge a male twice their size - they have to get beaten up to know what can happen to them. I've seen it happen.



Horns help with those few disputes that display doesn't solve. Maybe in dense jungle, chameleons get closer than they do in the open areas and forest edges frequented by the large, display species. Coloration would be less effective, and close encounters more liekly...maybe.





But they do bite - hard. Even a female veiled can probably crack a fingernail if they wanted. Usually they don't clamp down, though.

[ Hide Replies ]

• I have a chameleon adaptation question... - lele, Wed Apr 27 13:43:58 2005
• RE: I have a chameleon adaptation question... - zenexotics, Wed Apr 27 13:57:09 2005
• RE: I have a chameleon adaptation question... - Anthonyd, Wed Apr 27 14:35:34 2005
• RE: I have a chameleon adaptation question... - eric adrignola, Wed Apr 27 15:34:37 2005
• RE: I have a chameleon adaptation question... - zenexotics, Wed Apr 27 16:18:24 2005
• I figured this would be a good conversation! - lele, Wed Apr 27 16:44:48 2005
• RE: I figured this would be a good conversation! - eric adrignola, Wed Apr 27 18:37:49 2005