If this cute critter looks a bit miserable it’s probably because he doesn’t have much to look forward to.

As detailed in PNAS the newly discovered chameleon, Furcifer labordi, spends most of its year-long life inside an egg and lives just four or five months after hatching (research paper, press coverage).

“Our review of tetrapod longevity (>1,700 species) finds no others with such a short life span,” write Kristopher Karsten, of Oklahoma State University, and colleagues.

Karsten says the animal’s life cycle is more reminiscent of an insect than a traditional terrestrial vertebrate.

It could be a survival tactic says fellow author Christopher Raxworthy, of the American Museum of Natural History. “The best payoff may be to produce larger clutches and more offspring, rather than to conserve reserves and try to make it through the dry season as an adult,” he says (NY Times).

“It is amazing to think that for most of the year, this chameleon species is represented only by developing eggs buried in the ground,” adds Raxworthy (press release). “This species really illustrates just how much there is still to discover about the natural history of Madagascar.”

Given they have such a short time on this Earth it would be nice to think that once they do emerge from their eggs the poor things can experience some fleeting pleasures. Not so, says Karsten, who tells New Scientist it may be their “rather violent” courtship that actually kills them.

The only silver lining here is that this discovery could be good news for pet owners worried about the standard of their chameleon care: “These findings suggest that the notorious rapid death of chameleons in captivity may, for some species, actually represent the natural adult life span,” says Karsten.

Image: Christopher Raxworthy