Madagascar A chameleon that synchronises its death with others born at the same time has won the dubious distinction of being the shortest-lived four-legged animal in the world.

After only four to five months of clambering around a dry region of Madagascar the entire adult population of the chameleons die of old age within days of one another. Furcifer labordi takes longer to develop as an embryo in the safety of the egg than it spends in the open air after hatching. The adults never live to see their offspring born.

Zoologists from the United States and Madagascar studying the reptile were astonished by its short lifespan, and said it was the first four-limbed vertebrate that can truly be described as an annual. Its lifecycle is common among insects and plants but for the 28,300 known species of tetrapods – four-limbed vertebrates – being an annual is unprecedented. A handful of animals, including nine species of marsupial and 11 reptiles, have displayed “near-annual longevity” but none has been found to match the chameleon.

Researchers reporting their findings in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggested that the synchronised death of the lizards could help to explain “the notorious rapid death of chameleons in captivity”.

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