Warning: Watching a chameleon give birth, as watching anything give birth, is an intense ride. If you’re not great with living sacs being plopped out of orifices, turn away now. Seriously. 

Even though the Demogorgons from Stranger Things are extremely odd and horrifying creatures, they’re still obviously influenced by a handful of real-life organisms. They seem to hunt like Dilophosaurus, for example. So it should really come as no surprise that when Will coughs up a baby Demogorgon, or a Pollywog, if you will, there seems to be a real-life correlate there as well. And that correlate is in the birth of a baby chameleon. Or at least the second half of the birth of a baby chameleon.

The video of this Cape Dwarf Chameleon (Bradypodion pumilum) was posted by the YouTube channel, Atmosphere Chameleons, and it shows (the most eye-opening) minute of the birth of a baby Cape Dwarf Chameleon. The birth happens in an ovoviviparous manner — meaning the baby chameleon developed inside of an embryo inside of the mother until birth — and we watch as the baby chameleon pushes its way out of its egg-like membrane and basically becomes a miniaturized chameleon ready to do its little lizard thing.

And while this real-life chameleon birth definitely doesn’t look exactly like Will spitting up the baby Demo, there is something about the way this little sac of chameleon life is plopped out, and then immediately ready to move, that is eerily reminiscent of watching the slug-like blob drop out of Will’s mouth into the sink.

Yes, this is gross! No question about that. But isn’t biology always kind of gross? At least when it comes to reproduction, or Demogorgons, or reproduction of Demogorgons.

What do you think about this Cape Dwarf Chameleon giving birth? Has this short clip scarred you more than anything that’s ever happened on Stranger Things? Drop your thought-sacs in the comments below!

Images: Atmosphere Chameleons 

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