Chameleon changes color in extreme conditions. Chromatophores are the secret to color change. Paint chameleon "Prometheus". basic colors: gold, burgundy, brown, purple

Chameleons are lizards that can disguise themselves as environment changing its color. Reptiles, detachment - scaly. They are members of the chameleon family. The word chameleon is translated from German as "earth lion".

Chameleon: what it looks like, description, structure, characteristics

These lizards are very interesting creatures. Their body is completely covered with bumpy skin with small growths, thick areas. Some individuals have sharp horns, helmets, small pearl deposits near the eyes on the muzzle.

Chameleons prefer to climb trees. In the process of evolution, they left two and three fingers on each foot. The fingers are fused into two opposite groups. Each group has 2 fingers on the front paws and 3 on the hind paws, they look like "claws". At the tips of each finger there is one sharp claw, thanks to which the lizards can safely climb, clinging to the bark. In addition to the legs, there is a tail, which chameleons also use in the process of climbing the trunk.

These lizards are the real kings of disguise. They hide not only from their prey, but also from predatory animals. Chameleons are also famous for being able to stay in one position for several days. In special cases, chameleons freeze for several weeks. So the lizard lulls the vigilance of its prey and calmly attacks.

Chameleons are practically invisible in the thickets of plants. They can take on any color, disguising themselves as objects around. If you look at the chameleon from the front, it will seem flat. Color changes occur due to the special device of the skin, which is able to disguise itself as the natural habitat of the animal.

The nature and lifestyle of a chameleon

Most of their time, chameleons rest on the branches of trees. They can wait for prey or just rest. Lizards only come down when the time is right mating season. It is difficult for chameleons to move on the ground. Bidactyl limbs are adapted more for climbing trees.

Thanks to a powerful tail, chameleons can feel calm in dense thickets. They always have something to cling to and where to run away. Chameleons are active during the day, they rarely move. When threatened, they can run and jump extremely fast. The danger is represented by snakes, other lizards and birds. If the enemy noticed the chameleon, then it begins to puff up and change color. The reptile may bite a little, but it will not be able to do much harm. Chameleon jaws are too weak.

Chameleon is an inhabitant of sultry Africa, who gained fame thanks to the unique ability to change skin color. This small lizard, only 30 cm long, can transform itself, becoming black, pink, green, blue, red, yellow. Many scientists have carried out various studies to find out how a chameleon changes color and why. It was assumed that in this way he disguises himself under the background surrounding him. But this turned out to be an incorrect assumption.

This lizard is unique in itself. She looks like a dragon, often changes skin color, sits for hours on the branches of trees, waiting for the victim, which she captures with her long tongue. Her eyes live a separate life, turning into different sides. The chameleon changes color thanks to special cells - chromatophores. His skin is transparent, which is why cells containing pigment of different colors are so clearly visible.

For a long time, researchers could not understand how a chameleon changes color, and why this happens. It was assumed that he needed this for disguise. After all, having painted, for example, in a lizard, it can disguise itself in foliage, hiding from predators and waiting for its victims. Indeed, in the course of evolution, many chameleons have learned to acquire the color and pattern of their enemy - for example, birds or snakes.

Modern research has shown that the process of how a chameleon changes color depends entirely on its condition. Skin color varies from mood changes - reactions such as fear or joy. It may even depend on the air temperature. In Africa, many chameleons get in the morning to attract, but brighten in the afternoon so that it is not so hot. They use variegated colors in mating games, in order to attract a representative of the opposite side.

Chromatophores in chameleons are located in the deep layers of the skin and directly depend on nervous system. IN top layer there are cells containing red and yellow pigments. Next is guanine, which reproduces the blue color very accurately. Beneath it are melanophores responsible for black and yellow pigments and containing melanin. The way the pigment granules are arranged in the cell completely affects the color. The chameleon is a very interesting animal. After all, the pigments in its cells move very quickly, changing color. If they are concentrated in the center of the cell, then it will remain transparent, and if they are evenly distributed over it, then they will be painted in an intense color.

Nerve endings connect chromatophores to the brain, from where commands for change come. The way a chameleon changes color can be compared to a palette in which colors, mixed up, create completely new shades. Due to its ability to change skin color, this lizard has gained immense popularity. Today, other things that shimmer in different shades or change them are called chameleons.

Although it seems that by changing color, the lizard wants to disguise itself, this is not so. She doesn't care about the background at all. Skin color is influenced by mood, emotions experienced, air temperature, but not by the environment. Therefore, the opinion that when a chameleon is on it, black and white cells will appear on it, is fundamentally wrong.

Dear friends! One of the brightest representatives of exclusive paints are chameleons. This is truly a man-made miracle. The scope of chameleons is limited only by imagination: painting cars, motorcycles, bicycles, rims, safety helmets, household appliances and electronics, furniture, decor items, design, various accessories, etc. These paints have excellent service durability, are resistant to ultraviolet radiation and weathering. It is possible only conditionally to describe the number of shades and effects that this or that chameleon conveys. Since light conditions and surface viewing angles are infinitely variable, the chameleon is able to create a rich polyphony of color mixing and color play using its many base colors and their hues. It was by subjectively determining the base colors that the chameleon manufacturers gave these paints individuality and assigned trade names, under which an individual set of basic colors and their shades are fixed.
Our laboratory has a collection of 11 chameleons of different basic colors and shades produced in the UK and the USA. We sell these wonderful paints both in bulk and in aerosol cans. Below we will dwell on each chameleon separately, as well as on the technology of application, prices and methods of purchase.
NOT A SECRET! CHAMELEON paints turn ordinary things into noticeable and exclusive, and cheap and mass-produced things into expensive and unique ones.

RANGE OF COLOR LABORATORY CHAMELEONS (11 chameleons)

1. Paint chameleon "AURORA". Basic colors: neon green, blue, purple.

2. Paint chameleon "TYPHOON". Basic colors: red-burgundy, green, purple.

3. Paint chameleon "ANTIUS". Basic colors: yellow, gold, blue, purple, burgundy.

4. Paint chameleon "NEPTUNE". Basic colors: blue, blue, purple.

5. Paint chameleon "SUGAR". Basic colors: burgundy, purple, yellow, gold.

6. Paint chameleon "SIRIUS". Basic colors: burgundy, green.

7. Paint chameleon "PROMETHEUS". Basic colors: gold, burgundy, brown, purple.

8. Chameleon paint "POSEIDON". Basic colors: blue, blue, purple.

9. Chameleon paint "OBLIVION". Basic colors: yellow, blue, purple.

10 Chameleon Paint "ZEFIR". Basic colors: fuchsia, lime, gold, yellow, gray, purple.

11. Chameleon paint "LAGOON". Basic colors: green, lilac, gray, violet.

PAINTING TECHNOLOGY, PRICES and HOW TO BUY

1. Packaging options and manufacturers

2. Which surfaces can be applied with exclusive paints and approximate consumption

3. How to paint

4. Price

5. How to buy

Dear friends! Remember that the technologists of the Color Laboratory will always and with pleasure advise you on any issues of painting technology.

Chameleons are one of the most unusual animals on Earth: they communicate by changing color, they kill the victim with lightning speed by shooting their tongue, and they live in places that are not easy to get to and which, unfortunately, will soon change beyond recognition due to human activities.

There is hardly an animal that can compete with a chameleon in the number of anatomical curiosities. These lizards have a tongue longer than their body, and with its help they are able to get their own food in a split second with one “shot” - to catch and kill some insect. Chameleons have excellent eyesight, their telescopic eyes can rotate independently of each other. Terrible “horns” protrude directly above the eyes, and the fingers have become like claws and serve to firmly grip the branches on which these lizards spend their whole lives. But among all the variety of bright features, there is one that distinguishes chameleons from other lizards - this is the ability to change color. The widespread belief that chameleons take on the color of the surface they are on is actually not entirely true. Of course, in some situations, the ability to mimic comes in handy, but basically chameleons resort to color changes to communicate with each other and with the outside world. By changing color, these lizards indicate their state: readiness for mating, threat to the enemy or stress. “Chameleons have long attracted the attention of researchers, but despite this, not all of their mysteries have been solved,” says Christopher Anderson, an expert on these lizards from Brown University in Providence. “We are still trying to figure out in detail how they work – how they shoot with their tongue while hunting and how they change color.”

About 40 percent of the more than 200 known to science species of chameleons inhabit Madagascar, almost all the rest live on the territory of continental Africa. With the help of DNA tests, several new species have been isolated, although appearance their representatives practically did not differ from those known before. More than 20 percent of the species have been identified in the last 15 years. Unfortunately, the future of these amazing creatures in nature is far from rosy. In November last year, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List included more than half of the chameleon species under the status of "threatened" or "close to vulnerable." Anderson is a member of the IUCN Chameleon Panel. Christopher studied in detail the hunting skills of his wards. Using a 3,000 fps camera, he captured a chameleon eating a cricket. In reality, everything happens in 0.56 seconds - in the recording, the hunt lasts 28 seconds, and with the help of the camera, the operation of the "trigger" of the lizard's tongue was disassembled in great detail.

Christian Ziegler The insect fell victim to a chameleon from the genus Calumma who decided to feast on it. Thanks to sharp eyesight, the lizard manages to direct the “shot” of its long tongue with a wet sucker at the tip with jewelry accuracy.

The hyoid bone of the chameleon is surrounded by elastic collagen tissue and is located in the annular "trigger" muscle. As soon as the lizard aims at the prey, it slightly sticks out its tongue, the trigger muscle compresses this bone, and the tongue, previously gathered in a tight fold, abruptly slides off it, straightening like a spring. The tip of the tongue is shaped like a sucker, and the victim sticks tightly to its wet surface. The tongue retracts and - the dish is on the table! Regarding color control mechanisms, then the work of geneticist and biophysicist Michel Milinkovich, published this year, turned the recent ideas of scientists upside down. For many years it was believed that the change in color of a chameleon occurs due to the spread of pigments along special processes of skin cells. Michel argues that this assumption is not convincing, because in nature there are many green individuals whose skin lacks green pigments. Milinkovic and colleagues from the University of Geneva found another layer of cells under the pigment cells, which contain nanocrystals arranged in a triangular lattice. It turned out that under pressure and exposure to chemical compounds, these crystals become manageable: when the distance between them changes, the color reflected by the skin also changes. With an increase in the gap between the "chameleon" crystals, the gamma shifts from the blue part of the spectrum to the green and further - up to the red. Nick Henn, an amateur breeder from Pennsylvania, had his first chameleon when he was seven years old. In twenty years, Henn's collection has grown to two hundred individuals who live in his basement in Reading.

Cages placed in a row are filled with plants, on which lizards climb with pleasure. At the bottom there is a decent layer of sand so that the females can lay their eggs. Humidity and light are adjusted to recreate the natural environment for the animals. Correctly arranging the cages is a more difficult task than seating the delegations of warring countries at the UN assembly. Animals once again should not cause aggression in each other, so Henn placed the females so that they did not see the males, and the males so that neither females nor warlike rivals fell into their field of view. Amber, a young panther chameleon, belongs to a species that inhabits the Ambilobe region in northern Madagascar. Its body is decorated with red and green stripes, on the sides of the lizard bordered in light blue. When Henn, having opened the cage, began to push Amber with a long stick, the chameleon began to “wind up”. It was easy to notice - the red stripes suddenly filled up and became noticeably brighter.

The widespread belief that chameleons take on the color of the surface they are on is actually not entirely true.

Photo: Coracoid outgrowths adorn the muzzle of Parson's chameleon - one of the largest species. By these outgrowths, lizards recognize "their own", they are also suitable as a formidable weapon in a duel for a female. Author: Christian Ziegler">

Beak-shaped outgrowths adorn the muzzle of Parson's chameleon - one of the largest species. By these outgrowths, lizards recognize "their own", they are also suitable as a formidable weapon in a duel for a female.

Photo: Beak-shaped outgrowths adorn the muzzle of a long-nosed chameleon. By these outgrowths, lizards recognize "their own", they are also suitable as a formidable weapon in a duel for a female. Author: Christian Ziegler">

Beak-shaped outgrowths adorn the muzzle of a long-nosed chameleon. By these outgrowths, lizards recognize "their own", they are also suitable as a formidable weapon in a duel for a female.

Photo: Two male panther chameleons have just completed a fight for a female. It is not difficult to determine the winner: it shimmers in the sun. His opponent is in mourning. Author: Christian Ziegler">

Two male panther chameleons have just completed a fight for a female. It is not difficult to determine the winner: it shimmers in the sun. His opponent is in mourning.

Some types of chameleons, although they change color, do not do it clearly enough to intimidate the enemy. Then other methods come to the rescue - lizards compress the body, and then straighten the ribs at the joints in order to push the spine up and “grow” due to this. Another trick to make you look more imposing is to curl your long ponytail tightly into a ball and use your tongue muscles to puff out your throat. Turning, after all these metamorphoses, sideways to the enemy, the chameleon seems much larger. One of Henn's favorites - a lizard named Katy Perry (that's the name of the American pop star. - Approx. Ed.) - has taken on a pink-red hue, signaling to its relatives that it is ready to mate. Her neighbor, named Pinat, is also pink, but with dark stripes on her body, which means that she is already bearing offspring. If Cathy comes across a male who can impress her with his bright colors and spectacular mating dance, she may well agree to prolong his lineage. If the same male meets on the way of Pinat, it will immediately darken all over, and bright spots will appear against this background. For a particularly dull boyfriend, the lizard will open its mouth menacingly, begin to hiss and try to bite him. Both male and female chameleons are polygamous (mating with multiple partners). Most species lay eggs, which hatch into young, and in some, children are born alive in transparent sacs that resemble cocoons. Chameleons do not bother raising babies, so they are left to their own devices from the first days of life. Since these animals spend most of their time in trees, in order to hide from prying eyes, it is enough for them to cower and topple over on the underside of a branch. And once on the ground, lizards, at the sight of a predator, try to pretend to be one of the leaves, of which there are so many around.

Christian Ziegler Life cycle Labor's chameleon lasts about a year. Some chameleon species can live up to ten years in captivity. IN natural environment they do not live even half of this period.

But chameleons cannot cope with the main enemy- Human agricultural activity ruthlessly destroys their habitual habitat. 9 species listed in the IUCN Red List are on the verge of extinction, 37 are endangered, 20 are vulnerable and another 35 are close to the status of vulnerable. Biologist Crystal Tolly, like Christopher Anderson, is on the IUCN Chameleon Expert Group. Since 2006 in South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a group of scientists led by Tolly discovered 11 new species of chameleons. Cristal is from Massachusetts and has been studying lizards for 15 years under the auspices of the National African Institute for Biological Diversity in Cape Town. “When genetic analysis confirms that the individual you found is a representative of a new species, the feelings are simply overwhelmed,” Tolly says enthusiastically. - Not like when you write an article that no one will read later. Here it is a completely different matter - your discovery becomes part of scientific knowledge for centuries! Sighing, Krystal continues, “But as soon as the euphoria subsides a little, the terrible reality again comes to the fore. A picture of industrial deforestation rises before our eyes. In the branches of trees falling to the ground, my tiny pets try to find shelter. Sometimes I think it would be better for them to remain unknown to science. After all, if a person does not stop, very soon they will all die out.