How Do Chameleons Change Color?
New research shows chameleons actively tune nano-crystals to change their color. For a 10-day free trial, check out http://lynda.com/veritasium Chameleon research in Nature Communications:...
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There is a misconception about chameleons that they change their color in order to blendin with their environment. That is actually not the case. When a chameleon is calm itis green and so it naturally blends in with its leafy surroundings. But male chameleonschange color when they become excited in the presence of a female or a rival male, as shownhere. I will put the first frame in the bottom right for comparison. As you can see, as hebecomes more excited, his color changes to be more yellow orange and red. So insteadof blending in this chameleon will now stand out. But how do chameleons actually changetheir color? For years we thought that there was a simple well-established mechanism forthis color change. In their skin, chameleons have different cells containing colo...
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There is a misconception about chameleons that they change their color in order to blendin with their environment. That is actually not the case. When a chameleon is calm itis green and so it naturally blends in with its leafy surroundings. But male chameleonschange color when they become excited in the presence of a female or a rival male, as shownhere. I will put the first frame in the bottom right for comparison. As you can see, as hebecomes more excited, his color changes to be more yellow orange and red. So insteadof blending in this chameleon will now stand out. But how do chameleons actually changetheir color? For years we thought that there was a simple well-established mechanism forthis color change. In their skin, chameleons have different cells containing colo...
