How do chameleons change color? When a male Furcifer pardalis chameleon is calm it is usually green. But if another male approaches he may become competitive or angry and turn bright yellow and red. Some species are able to change color in less than two minutes. But how does he do it?
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
How do chameleons change color? When a male Furcifer pardalis chameleon is calm it is usually green. But if another male approaches he may become competitive or angry and turn bright yellow and red. Some species are able to change color in less than two minutes. But how do you do it?
Many lizards are known to have multiple layers of cells with different pigments, which can make their skin light or darker. But chameleons don't use this same process when they change color.
Now a study by the University of Geneva published in the journal Nature Communications showed that these animals have more overlapping layers of cells than they reflect light differently. Depending on whether they are concentrated or expanded, the crystals reflect different wavelengths of light.
The different colors are created by crystal size and their arrangement in the skin. They act like selective mirrors, explains co-author Michel Milinkovitch: "the light will bounce off them only for specific wavelengths. The other wavelengths do not bounce off these cells. The crystals are organized efficiently, so the chameleon's color is pure and intense ”.
This mechanism organized in two superimposed layers constitutes one evolutionary novelty for chameleons, which allows some species to combine efficient and spectacular camouflage, while also providing passive thermal protection.
Roberta Ragni
Photo Credit ©Michel Milinkovitch
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