Rheology

researchers write. So, during the dry season, the entire population is represented by developing eggs that incubate for 8–9 months, before hatching synchronously at the beginning of the following rainy season. “Remarkably, this chameleon spends more of its short annual life cycle inside the egg than outside it,” they report. The authors reviewed data on the life cycle of more than 1,700 tetrapod species and did not find evidence of any species having a cycle based on a single year. They also found no other species with a post-embryonic lifespan of only 4–5 months. “The physically intense social system of this species, the harsh and unpredictable environment it inhabits, with a brief active season and when adult mortality is already high, may exacerbate the compression of life into such a brief period”, the authors write.