FIGURE 1.

Morphology of the secondary palate in post-hatching stages of the veiled chameleon. Macroscopic view on the palate exhibits different shape and approach state of the palatal shelves in individual chameleons of a similar size (A–D). The graphs compare the distribution of different degrees of a closure of the gap between the palatal shelves in female and male chameleons (E–G). For comparison, 33 female and 20 male adult and juvenile veiled chameleons of different size were used. Head width was measured in place where the distance between the palatal shelves was the smallest (distance A, red), and at the same place, width of the palatal shelves was measured from their medial edges to the tooth line (distance B, green). In the narrowest place between the palatal shelves the gap was measured (distance C, orange). Distance between small black lines in the schema is 1 mm (H). A scatter plot of the palatal shelves width against head width of post-hatching stages (I). Scatter plot of the gap between the palatal shelves against head width of post-hatching stages (J). Thirty one animals were used for measuring the head and palatal shelves size. Ninety five percent confidence regression bands are shown as dashed curves. Scale bar (A–D): 5 mm.