Madagascar Chameleon Makes the Most of a 4-Month Life

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By Eliza Strickland
Jul 1, 2008 6:56 PMNov 5, 2019 6:10 AM
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Researchers say a tiny chameleon in Madagascar can lay claim to a strange record: It has the shortest lifespan of all four-limbed vetebrates. The astonishing Furcifer labordi spends eight months inside its egg, hatches in November, and then spends four months reaching maturity and mating before dying in April. By then the members of the next generation are already contained inside their eggs, ready to begin the cycle again.

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