Remember how you learn about camouflage in nature as a kid? Every teacher brings up chameleons as a perfect example of altering their appearance to blend in a avoid predators that might want to eat the little guys.
Turns out it’s not entirely true!
I just read this article in PLoS Biology by Devi Stuart-Fox and Adnan Moussalli and the accompanying descriptive article for it by Kira E. O'Day. Stuart-Fox and Moussalli studied South African dwarf chameleons (not the type in the picture) in a natural habitat to see what triggered the color changes. It turned out that male chameleons displayed their brightest, most obtrusive color when dealing with other males in the interest of finding a mate.
They still change color to match in with the background when confronted by a predator.
But sure enough the guys are donning their brightest clothes to impress the ladies. And the loser in the chameleon posing promptly dons drab colors and retreats.
The scientists analyzed the variety of background colors the chameleons live with as well as the large capacity of colors both visible and not visible (such as in the UV range that humans can’t see), and they’ve concluded that the evolution of color change in chameleons was actually driven by social signals. In other words, while the chameleons reap the benefit of their color change because of how it can help them hide from predators, what may have actually driven the evolution of the capacity to change color is their social life.
So, guys, think of that the next time you try to decide what to wear when you’re going out clubbing.
Turns out it’s not entirely true!
I just read this article in PLoS Biology by Devi Stuart-Fox and Adnan Moussalli and the accompanying descriptive article for it by Kira E. O'Day. Stuart-Fox and Moussalli studied South African dwarf chameleons (not the type in the picture) in a natural habitat to see what triggered the color changes. It turned out that male chameleons displayed their brightest, most obtrusive color when dealing with other males in the interest of finding a mate.
They still change color to match in with the background when confronted by a predator.
But sure enough the guys are donning their brightest clothes to impress the ladies. And the loser in the chameleon posing promptly dons drab colors and retreats.
The scientists analyzed the variety of background colors the chameleons live with as well as the large capacity of colors both visible and not visible (such as in the UV range that humans can’t see), and they’ve concluded that the evolution of color change in chameleons was actually driven by social signals. In other words, while the chameleons reap the benefit of their color change because of how it can help them hide from predators, what may have actually driven the evolution of the capacity to change color is their social life.
So, guys, think of that the next time you try to decide what to wear when you’re going out clubbing.
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