Chameleons Change Color To Hide?

In the animal kingdom, different kinds of animals have evolved ways to avoid predators. Gazelles can run fast, and skunks spray predators with something that smells bad. Then there are chameleons that change color to look like part of the background. However, scientists say that the need to hide is not the biggest reason that chameleons developed the ability to change colors.

University of Melbourne’s Dr. Devi Stuart-Fox says that “chameleons evolved color change for signaling.” For example, a male chameleon will put on his brightest colors to show a female that he is ready for love. To tell another male to back off, a chameleon will turn bright red. Aside from changing colors to communicate, a chameleon might also change to help keep its body temperature comfortable. When the test chameleons were shown predators, though, their color changes were not as big.

It seems that chameleons usually use color not to hide but to communicate with other chameleons. Now that we realize this, we may soon be able to start eavesdropping on these messages!

啊！變色龍變色不全是為了藏匿？

在動物王國中，不同種類的動物都演化出各種方式來躲避掠食者。瞪羚可以跑得飛快，臭鼬則會向掠食者噴射味道難聞的東西。還有會改變顏色、讓自己看起來與背景融為一體的變色龍。然而，科學家說藏匿的需求並不是變色龍發展出變色能力的最大原因。

墨爾本大學的戴維．史特瓦–福克斯教授說：「變色龍演化出變色能力是為了發出信號」。舉例來說，一隻雄性變色龍會換上最亮眼的顏色來向雌性變色龍傳達情意。為了要叫另一隻雄性變色龍退開，變色龍則會變成亮紅色。除了改變顏色來傳遞訊息外，變色龍可能也會變色以助於維持體溫舒適。不過將掠食者擺在受測的變色龍前面時，顏色改變的程度就沒那麼大。

看來變色龍改變顏色通常不是為了藏匿，而是為了與其他變色龍溝通交流。既然我們了解了這一點，我們可能很快就可以開始偷聽這些訊息了！