What animal did deathclaws mutate from?

Deathclaws are bipedal, genetically engineered carnivorous reptiles based on the Jackson’s chameleon.

What was a deathclaw before the bombs?

What was a Deathclaw before the bombs? The deathclaws were originally created before the Great War by the United States military, in order to replace humans during high-risk close-combat search-and-destroy missions[1]. They were Jackson’s Chameleons[2] genetically modified with DNA of various other species.