Don: Time to go again to the A Moment of Science mailbag.

Yaël: Dear AMOS,

     I know that some giant tortoises can live well beyond 100 years, and that whales and      elephants also have long lives. But what's the shortest-lived tetrapod?

D: That's a great and timely question. First, for those who don't know, "tetrapod" means      a four-limbed creature with a backbone.

Y: Right. And the question is timely because scientists at Oklahoma State University      recently discovered a chameleon that lives for only about five months before it      breeds and then dies.

D: It's called the Labord's chameleon, and it lives in southwest Madagascar. And the      truly weird part of this story is that the chameleons gestate for about eight or nine      months in their eggs before hatching. So over their entire life span, the chameleons      spend more than half their time gestating, and live only a short time after they've      hatched.

Y: Once they've hatched, the chameleons live fast. They reach sexual maturity within      two months and then mate. But a few months later, by the beginning of February,      they already start to slow down and age rapidly. Some even lose their grip and fall      out of trees.

D: OK, but why do these chameleons have such short life spans?

Y: It's not clear. But it could be driven by the extreme variability in weather on      Madagascar.

D: In any case, I guess the Labord's chameleon lives fast and dies young.

Y: Really young.  

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