Chamaeleo chamaeleon, Calabria, Italy

The common chameleon (Chamaeleo chamaeleon) is found in various Mediterranean countries, with historical records in Sicily that indicate it is now absent there. Contemporary sightings in Italy mainly consist of isolated instances, likely stemming from released or escaped individuals. However, established populations exist in two southern regions: Apulia and Calabria. To determine their origins, tissue samples from these areas were analyzed by amplifying a fragment of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene and comparing the sequences to those in Genbank. The chameleons in Calabria share haplotypes with individuals from Tunisia (North Africa), while those in Apulia match samples from Israel, indicating these populations were likely introduced to Italy.