🌿 Naturepublished 2w ago
Chameleons Don't Change Color to Match Their Surroundings
Contrary to popular belief, chameleons do not alter their skin color to blend into background foliage. Instead, color shifts serve as an emotional and physiological broadcast. Dark shades absorb heat when a lizard is cold, while pale colors reflect radiant sunlight. Bright vibrant patterns signal aggression to rival males or receptivity to prospective mates. The shifts occur not through pigments, but by rearranging microscopic guanine nanocrystals within special skin cells to reflect different wavelengths of light.
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