Scientists crack the mystery behind chameleon's colour change

Wednesday, March 11, 2015, 9:18 AM - It's one of nature's most beautiful displays and thanks to new research, we're one step closer to understanding it completely.

The chameleon is famed among animals for being able to change the colour of its skin. A new study took a closer look at the lizard and found that chameleons have an extra layer of skin cells called "iridophores" that contain within them tiny crystals.

This crystal lattice is spaced evenly throughout the cells allowing light to be reflected at a certain wavelength that gives them their green colour. Through a process still not fully understood, the chameleons are able to loosen the network of nanocrystals, allowing red or yellow to be reflected.

The study was published in Nature Communications, and was a combined effort from the physics and the biology departments of the University of Geneva.

Previously, it was understood that chameleons and other lizards like them could change between different shades of green by manipulating specific cells known as chrompatophores, which contain colour-affecting pigments such melanin. But the change from green to red wasn't clear until now.

While the new study sheds some light on the chameleon, there's still a lot of confusion regarding the animal. A common misconception is that chameleons are capable of blending into their surroundings. The truth is that they do tend to disappear when they're green against a green backdrop such as the leafy trees in which they inhabit. But against the wrong background, the lizards are just as noticeable as any other animal.

Sources: Nature | Digital Biology

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