How do chameleon bodies know what color to change to and when to change to it?
In: 145
They don’t.
Their color changes based on mood, not environment. Hungry, tired, or cold = brown and grey while warm, well-fed, and angry => vibrant. They’re generally hard to spot anyway (they move slow and jerky, have excellent eyesight, can look around without moving their head unlike normal lizards, can hang from anywhere, etc.) and I think this all combined to produce the idea that they change color to hide.
Now there ARE animals like cuttlefish and octopi which can legitimately change color on the fly to match their surroundings, but not chameleons.
Source: have kept 2 chameleons as pets.
Former chaneleon breeder here.
They don’t actually change color, for the most part.
They’re more of a one-trick…errr..chameleon.
Instead, what they actually do is darken and display, which means they only actually have a darker/lighter change setting, if you will.
They have a few different reasons for changing color:
Warning predators or other chaneleons, mating advances, and fear/hiding response.
The colors they display don’t really change, they are just made more or less bright.
So, someone else mentioned that Chameleons don’t change color for camouflage, but it’s worth noting that the Cuttlefish and the Octopus *do* change colors for camouflage, much like we often think Chameleons do, *and they can do it in complete darkness*, matching both color and texture. Cuttlefish are also colorblind, adding even more confusion to how the fuck they do it.
Non of the answers satisfy my curiosity of OPs question.
The all seem to avoid the actual logistical aspect of
“How does it know which color to change to.?”
What sense does it use?
Chameleon owner here.
Their colors brighten when they are relaxed and feel safe (also when asleep) and they darken when they feel stressed or threatened. Some species have distinctive features that show up (like a bright yellow line or completely new pattern) based on whether theyre being territorial, or receptive to breeding.
As many have stated it’s a method of communication primarily. Like a dog’s tail and facial expressions with a bit more pizazz.
Chameleons don’t change colour to match their surroundings, they change colour to communicate, signal, and show mood. So asking how a chameleon knows when to change colour or what colour to change to is a bit like asking how you know how to blush, or how you know how send blood into your genitals when horny. It just sort of happens.
Now cuttlefish and octopus – they absolutely DO change colour to camouflage themselves into their surroundings. It’s completely nuts and I have no idea how they do it. Check out a video of a cuttlefish camouflaging itself against a checkerboard design. Bonkers.
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Some according to their testosterone concentration, in simplest terms, “during the breeding season males appeared in several color displays, which reflected body size, social status, and behavioral patterns.”
It’s a mood thing ..I had a male chameleon once. He was grumpy but nice to look at. If I ever had to handle him for any reason he’d turn either dark brown or black. Thinking back, it sorta fit but man he’d snack on your finger if you weren’t careful
Edit: It wasn’t to play with him but there are time I’d have to pick him up or simply be cleaning his terrarium while he sat angry in the corner.
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