Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey, brain Stuff, I'm Lauren bog Obama. And Chameleons have built a pretty solid reputation on two commonly held beliefs, that they can stealthily blend into their surroundings and that they are the ideal subjects for iconic eighties anthems. But it turns out that one of those supposed facts isn't quite right. In fact, everything you think you know about chameleons and
their color changing capabilities is probably backward. We spoke with Daniel Flynn, marketing manager for the Conservation Society of California at the Oakland Zoo. He said the color changing properties of chameleons don't really help them blend in, but rather their natural relaxed state is what helps them blend in. The expression blending in like a chameleon isn't entirely accurate, meaning these lizards don't change their appearance to fit in,
but rather to stand out. Scientists Long believes the chameleons change their coloring similarly to the way to puss a switch shades, which is by stretching and contracting a series of special cells under their skin that contain pigments, thus making the color more or less pronounced. But biologists and physicists somewhat recently realized that something else entirely is going on with chameleons. They have crystal like cells under their
skin that refract light. They're called aritophores, and these cells go through structural changes to produce different effects. Flynn explained that when anything agitates or exhilarates the chameleon, that's when things get colorful. He said, when they get excited, feel threatened, or want to display positively towards a mate or negatively to arrival, the crystals separate or compress and give off
the appearance of different colors. In a twenty fifteen study published in the journal Nature Communications, researchers with the University of Geneva in Switzerland revealed that a ritophores act like tiny mirrors that selectively reflect and absorb different colors. While a lot of animals have color patterns, birds and fish, for example, the cells that make their vibrant displays possible typically absorb or reflect certain regions of the visible light spectrum.
Each cell has its specialty. Chameleon cells are different. Aritophores can actually absorb or reflect any and all colors of the spectrum. Flynn said some species change more colors than others. For example, some will change shades lighter to darker, while others change to more vibrant, bright colors. There are quite a few species, so there's a lot of variants among all of them. They can change all different types of colors,
even colors that aren't visible to the human eye. When a chameleon's mood changes, its nervous system activates the cells to contract or expand. When the animal is relaxed, the cells stay close together and reflect short wavelengths like blue. A rush of excitement pushes those cells further apart, enabling each aritophor to reflect longer wavelengths like red, orange, and yellow. But if the naturally relaxed cells reflect blue, y are
chilled out. Chameleons typically green like their surroundings. This has to do with pigment sacks inside the aritophores, Flynn explained. Basically, when a chameleon is relaxed, they're naturally visible is green to help them camouflage with the green leaves and trees. This is due to the natural yellow pigment combined with a relaxed state of the crystal cells, which reflect blue light.
Blue plus yellow equals green. It may not be easy being green, but it's necessary for the chameleon, which has no real defenses, Blending in is its best bet against predators. So if the color changes are due to special cells under the skin, why are the effects external. The outermost layer of the chameleon skin is actually transparent. Beneath that outer layer lies several more layers containing a variety of specialized skills, including the blue and white light reflecting aritophores.
What's really wild is if the chameleon needs a dramatic quick change, like when it's trying to show off for a potential mate, it can quickly shed its outer layers of skin to expose the aritophores to direct sunlight in a hurry. There's not a ton of research to support it yet, but some scientists believe chameleons color changing abilities
also allow them to regulate their body temperature. A study demonstrated the bearded dragons alter their hue based on their body temperature, and since chameleons are ectotherms and can't retain body heat, hence their stereotypical sunbathing. It's possible that maintaining a dark color allows them to absorb more light and heat. Today's episode was written by Michelle kumb Stantardowski and produced by Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is a production that I
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