FLICKR, VLAD LITVINOV
Chameleons change their coloring to avoid predation and to communicate with one another. Researchers have now shown that complex color changes in the veiled chameleon (Chamaeleo calyptratus) are predictive of different behaviors. Their work was published in Biology Letters last month (December 23).
Russell Lignon and Kevin McGraw of Arizona State University pitted 10 adult veiled chameleons against each other in a round-robin tournament in which each reptile faced every other reptile, one-on-one. They recorded the interactions in high definition and, after adjusting the colors digitally to reflect what other chameleons would see, analyzed the speed and brightness of color changes at 28 different spots on each chameleon. “The changes essentially turn the chameleon’s entire body into a billboard advertisement,” Ligon told National Geographic’s Not ...
