Editing Veiled chameleon (section)

=== Reproduction and life cycle ===
Veiled chameleons reach sexual maturity at four to five months and breed multiple times in a year. The female lays large [[Clutch (eggs)|clutches]] of up to 85 white, tough eggs and buries them in sand.<ref name=smith/> The embryos experience a [[diapause]], a length of time (usually 60-75 days<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Buchtová |first1=Marcela |last2=Zahradníček |first2=Oldřich |last3=Balková |first3=Simona |last4=Tucker |first4=Abigail S. |date=February 2013 |title=Odontogenesis in the Veiled Chameleon (Chamaeleo calyptratus) |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0003996912003809 |journal=Archives of Oral Biology |language=en |volume=58 |issue=2 |pages=118–133 |doi=10.1016/j.archoralbio.2012.10.019|pmid=23200300 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>) when they are dormant in the egg before they begin developing, increasing temperatures in the substrate initiate development.<ref name="Andrews & Donoghue 2004">{{cite journal |last1=Andrews |first1=Robin M. |last2=Donoghue |first2=Susan |title=Effects of temperature and moisture on embryonic diapause of the veiled chameleon (Chamaeleo calyptratus) |journal=Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A: Comparative Experimental Biology |date=2004 |volume=301A |issue=8 |pages=629–635 |doi=10.1002/jez.a.56 |pmid=15286942 |bibcode=2004JEZA..301..629A }}</ref>

A 2004 study found that the [[embryonic development]] of chameleons (specifically the veiled chameleon) usually initiates at fertilization and continues until hatching, but sometimes development stunts at the [[Gastrulation|gastrula]] stage for months after the eggs have been laid. The researchers involved discovered that moisture levels have little to do with this delay, but that temperature plays a determinant role in development time; an increase in ambient temperature initiates development of diapausing embryos.<ref name="Andrews & Donoghue 2004"/>

Juvenile chameleons can grow up to two orders of magnitude in body mass within a year of hatching. The feeding mechanisms (mouth, snout, tongue, jaw) all grow rapidly while still needing to be functional. Thus, the [[musculoskeletal system]] of the feeding mechanisms grow with negative [[allometry]] relative to snout-vent length (SVL). Studies on captured veiled chameleons showed that velocity of jaw movement tends to be greater in adults than juveniles. Thus in the development phase between adult and juvenile, there is a change in energy storage and tongue projection release mechanisms.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Herrel |first1=Anthony |last2=Redding |first2=Chrystal L. |last3=Meyers |first3=J. Jay |last4=Nishikawa |first4=Kiisa C. |title=The scaling of tongue projection in the veiled chameleon, Chamaeleo calyptratus |journal=Zoology |date=1 August 2014 |volume=117 |issue=4 |pages=227–236 |doi=10.1016/j.zool.2014.01.001 |pmid=24703241 }}</ref>

It was found that unlike many other reptiles, the [[sex ratio]]s of the veiled chameleon are not affected by incubation temperature. Even with differential mortality as a factor,  the sex ratio bias is negligible. Anecdotal suggestions of temperature-dependent sex ratios in the veiled chameleon were accrued from reporting and statistical errors.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Andrews |first1=Robin M. |title=Incubation Temperature and Sex Ratio of the Veiled Chameleon (Chamaeleo calyptratus) |journal=Journal of Herpetology |date=September 2005 |volume=39 |issue=3 |pages=515–518 |doi=10.1670/33-05N.1 |s2cid=41016808 }}</ref>

Veiled chameleons have a naturally short lifespan, so even with good care, they may only live 6-8 years. Males typically live longer than females.