This story appears in the September 2015 issue of National Geographic magazine. For sheer breadth of freakish anatomical features, the chameleon has few rivals. A tongue far longer than its body ...

There’s a story that the chameleon looks so bizarre because it was made by the Devil from spare parts. It is said to have the tail of a monkey, the skin of a crocodile, the tongue of a toad ...

These grasping feet are ideal for tree climbing. Chameleons also have an extremely extensile tongue. The tongue is used to snap up insects and out-of-reach food, and can be up to twice the length ...

Chameleons have great eyesight and can move each of their eyes 180˚ independently without moving their head. This means they can use their long, sticky tongue to capture prey, all without moving.