Chamaeleoninae is the nominotypical subfamily of chameleons (family Chamaeleonidae). The Family Chamaeleonidae was divided into two subfamilies, Brookesiinae and Chamaeleoninae, by Klaver and Böhme in 1986.[1] Since its erection in 1986, however, the validity of this subfamily designation has been the subject of much debate,[2] although most phylogenetic studies support the notion that the pygmy chameleons of the subfamily Brookesiinae are not a monophyletic group.[3][4][5][6] While some authorities have previously preferred to use the subfamilial classification on the basis of the absence of evidence principal,[2] these authorities later abandoned this subfamilial division, no longer recognizing any subfamilies with the family Chamaeleonidae.[7] In 2015, however, Glaw reworked the subfamilial division by placing only the genera Brookesia and Palleon within the Brookesiinae subfamily, with all other genera being placed in Chamaeleoninae.[8]
Trioceros was previously considered to be a subgenus of Chamaeleo, until Tilbury & Tolley (2009) raised it to full genus. Since then, two new species have been described in the genus Trioceros, by Krause & Böhme (2010), and Stipala et al. (2011). These two new species have not been published in combination with the generic name Chamaeleo, which poses a problem for the citation of these names in Wikipedia, unless Trioceros is treated as a full genus, following Tilbury & Tolley (2009).