Primary Menu. Search for: Search. Watch more with these video collections:. Rion Nakaya June 2, September 13, What is the Slinky Drop? Watch in slow motion… Rion Nakaya October 3, July 15, There are quite a few species, so there is a lot of variance. Among all of them, they can change all different types of colors — even colors that aren't visible to the human eye!
The pigments inside the iridophores are typically contained inside tiny sacs, but when a chameleon's mood changes, its nervous system activates the cells to contract or expand. When the animal is relaxed, the cells stay close together and reflect short wavelengths, like blue. A rush of excitement pushes those cells farther apart, enabling each iridophore to reflect longer wavelengths, like red, orange and yellow.
But if the naturally relaxed cells reflect blue, why are chilled out chameleons typically green like their surroundings? Blue plus yellow equals green. So, if the color changes are due to special cells under the skin, why are the effects external?
The outermost layer of the chameleon's skin is actually transparent. Beneath that outer layer lies several more layers containing a variety of specialized skills, including the blue and white light-reflecting iridophores. What's really wild is if the chameleon needs a dramatic quick-change like when it's trying to show off for a potential mate , it can quickly shed its outer layers of skin to expose the iridophores to direct sunlight in a hurry.
Learn more about chameleons in " Chameleon, Chameleon " by Joy Cowley. HowStuffWorks picks related titles based on books we think you'll like. Should you choose to buy one, we'll receive a portion of the sale. There's not a ton of research to support it yet, but some scientists believe chameleons' color-changing abilities also allow them to regulate their body temperature. A study demonstrated that bearded dragons alter their hue based on their temps, and since chameleons are ectotherms and can't retain body heat hence their stereotypical sunbathing , it's possible that maintaining a dark color allows them to absorb more light and heat.
The mother leaves her eggs in the ground, never see her babies again. After the babies hatch, they go out of the ground and start eating insects see these amazing pictures and videos from here.
The male chameleons also change their appearance when they encounter another male. In this video , two male chameleons were put in the same space.
Both shifted their colour to bright green and their fight escalated to the physical attack. Interestingly, those with brighter-coloured head tend to win the physical fight. The colour pattern might be used to evaluate the quality of the competitor. Chameleons communicate with complex colour changes during contests: different body regions convey different information.
Also, there are the cells with melanin which moves down when chameleon is excited, showing its bright colour. Using these layers, chameleons are creating the colours by controlling the reflection of light by the tiny crystals in their skin cells.
Chameleons tune the distance between the crystals when exposed to pressure or chemicals. The colour changes from red to orange to yellow to green to blue as the spacing decreases. So when chameleons are relaxed, the distance between crystals is smaller, reflecting blue and green.
When they are excited, the distance increase, reflecting red, orange, and yellow. For more information. This mechanism of changing colour with light can be used to create camouflage clothing, chemical, coating and environmental sensors. The beautiful colour patterns of chameleons are not only to protect themselves from predators but also for reproduction purposes. To pass their genes onto the next generation, colouring is definitely one of the important factors for chameleons.
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