Veiled Chameleon Blood Supply Courtesy of BriteVu

Jul 26, 2019 Off Comments in Reptiles
Veiled Chameleon Blood Supply Courtesy of BriteVu

Veiled chameleon perfused with BriteVu showing the blood supply throughout the body!

The veiled chameleon (Chamaeleo calyptratus) is a beautiful and strange lizard from the Arabian Peninsula (Yemen and Saudi Arabia). Between the independently moving eyes, long sticky tongue, ability to camouflage and overall strange appearance, chameleons seem like aliens. However, they are highly adapted to their environments and successful insect predators.  The veiled chameleon has even become invasive in Maui, Hawaii and Florida.  This is likely because these chameleons presumably escaped from the pet trade as they are commonly kept pets.

This chameleon suffered from chronic abscesses in the head and subsequent neurologic signs and was perfused with BriteVu. Note the lack of blood flow to the head where the disease was centered. The chameleon was CT scanned using the Epica Vimago at 200µm.

Video of veiled chameleon rotating perfused with BriteVu

Video looking inside the veiled chameleon with BriteVu