Misconceptions and facts about chameleons: how they change color

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The ability to change the color and pattern of the body, characteristic of all chameleons, is widely known. At the same time, many are convinced that they change their color depending on the surrounding background, allegedly masquerading as the surrounding vegetation. This is an absolute myth and a complete fabrication.

The color of a chameleon depends on its emotional state. And if the color suddenly coincides with the surrounding background, then this is exactly a coincidence and nothing more.

The chameleon changes color when he is frightened, or he was picked up, or if he defeated another chameleon in a fight, as well as as a result of hunger, thirst, irritation, etc. Changes in the color of the body of chameleons also occur under the influence of external stimuli – temperature, light, humidity...

Often color changes can be combined with a threat display aimed at scaring off the enemy. Rapid color changes are also seen in males during the breeding season.

Interesting fact

While studying the variegated mountain chameleon (genus Bradypodion), native to North Africa, scientists concluded that chameleons use color change primarily to communicate with members of their species, rather than to protect themselves from predators.

Misconceptions and facts about chameleons: how they change color

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Chameleons are diurnal, as they lose control of their skin color when they sleep, turn pale, and become visible to predators.

The color variations available to a chameleon depend on the predominant habitat characteristic of the species. There are 12 genera with 213 species in the Chameleon family – just imagine how many different color variations there are!

Chameleons live in all types of rainforests, savannahs, and sometimes deserts and steppes. They are primarily found in the sub-Saharan African mainland and on the island of Madagascar, although some species are also found in North Africa, Southern Europe, the Middle East, South India, Sri Lanka and a number of small islands in the western Indian Ocean. There are representatives of wild populations in Hawaii and have been recorded in California and Florida.

How exactly do chameleons change color? Now we will deal with their mysterious mechanism of color change...

Misconceptions and facts about chameleons: how they change color

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The change in color is associated with the structural features of the skin. The skin of a chameleon contains several layers of special cells, the so-called chromatophores, containing grains of various pigments: black, dark brown, reddish and yellow. Changing the ratio between the layers leads to the appearance of different color shades on the skin. Green colors appear additionally as a result of the refraction of light rays in the surface layer of the skin.

As a result of these features, the color of chameleons can quickly change from light – whitish and orange, through yellow and green to purple, and then to completely black or dark brown. These color changes can occur both on the entire body of the animal, and on its individual parts, accompanied by the appearance and disappearance of various kinds of stripes and spots, making the chameleon a kind of walking color music.

Misconceptions and facts about chameleons: how they change color

pixabay.com

Misconceptions and facts about chameleons: how they change color

pixabay.com

Chameleons can remain absolutely motionless for hours on end. For this reason, and also because chameleons eat very little, for many centuries it was believed that they feed on air. This, of course, is also not true.

The word chameleon in Greek means "earth lion". The smallest species is Brookesia minima, which is only 2,5 cm to 4 cm long; the largest, Chamaeleo parsonnii, is 68 cm long. There is even a horned chameleon (Trioceros jacksonii), which we described in detail in the article "The most bizarre creatures on the planet (part 34)".

The chameleon can rotate and focus its eyes completely independently of each other and look in two opposite directions at the same time, which is important when catching insects, but before attacking, the chameleon turns both eyes to the prey. Chameleons have all-round visibility.

Misconceptions and facts about chameleons: how they change color

pixabay.com

While hunting, chameleons usually sit on tree branches for a long time. At the same time, the body of the animal remains motionless, and the eyes are constantly moving (but sometimes chameleons slowly sneak up on prey).

They catch insects with a tongue with a trapping sucker at the end, the process of ejection of which lasts about 1/20 of a second, and together with the return to its original position – no more than half a second. In three seconds, a chameleon can recognize and catch up to four insects. Sometimes the prey is too heavy to hold on to with the tongue; on subsequent occasions, the chameleon grabs that size of prey with its mouth.

How it looks from a humorous point of view, you can find out by watching a short cartoon "very greedy chameleon".