The Oustalet's or Malagasy Giant Chameleon (Furcifer oustaleti) is a very large species of chameleon

Chameleon

Chameleons are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of lizards. They are distinguished by their parrot-like zygodactylous feet, their separately mobile and stereoscopic eyes, their very long, highly modified, and rapidly extrudable tongues, their swaying gait, the possession by many of a...

 that is endemic to Madagascar

Madagascar

The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...

, but also has been introduced

Introduced species

An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...

 near Nairobi

Nairobi

Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...

 in Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

 (though its current status there is unclear). It occurs in a wide range of habitats, even among degraded vegetation within villages, but is relatively rare in primary forest. With a maximum length of 68.5 cm (27 in), it is often considered the largest species of chameleon, though some suggest that prize goes to Calumma parsonii. The diet of this chameleon includes, but is not limited to, invertebrates such as large insects. Prey is acquired with a long, muscular tongue.

Taxonomy

Its generic

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 name (Furcifer

Furcifer

Furcifer is a genus of chameleons whose members are mostly endemic to Madagascar, but F. cephalolepis and F. polleni are endemic to the Comoros. Additionally, F. pardalis has been introduced to Réunion and Mauritius, while F. oustaleti has been introduced to near Nairobi in Kenya...

) is derived from the Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 root furci meaning "forked" and refers to the shape of the animal's feet. Its specific name is a Latinized form of French Biologist

Biologist

A biologist is a scientist devoted to and producing results in biology through the study of life. Typically biologists study organisms and their relationship to their environment. Biologists involved in basic research attempt to discover underlying mechanisms that govern how organisms work...

, Jean-Frédéric Émile Oustalet

Émile Oustalet

Jean-Frédéric Émile Oustalet was a French zoologist.Oustalet was born at Montbéliard, in the department of Doubs. He studied at the Ecole des Hautes-Etudes and his first scientific work was on the respiratory organs of dragonfly larvae...

's last name, who first described the species.they live in the jungles of madagascar.