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What is the pigment that makes chameleon change its color?

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But chameleons aren't always blue. The lizards' skin also contains yellow pigments, and blue mixed with yellow makes green, a "cryptic" color that camouflages them among trees and plants, Milinkovitch said. This male chameleon changed color, from green to yellow. read more

Unlike other animals that change color, such as the squid and octopus, chameleons do not modify their hues by accumulating or dispersing pigments within their skin cells, the researchers found. Instead, the lizards rely on structural changes that affect how light reflects off their skin, the researchers said. read more

Normally, the pigments are locked away inside tiny sacs within the cells. But when a chameleon experiences changes in body temperature or mood, its nervous system tells specific chromatophores to expand or contract. This changes the color of the cell. read more

For decades, biologists thought chameleons were able to change color using pigments in their skin. However, new research shows that pigments are only a small part of the process. To understand how chameleons are able to transform from bright greens to purples, blues, and oranges and back again, we must first understand how prisms work. read more

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