Chameleons often change color, sometimes within seconds and this till date was believed to be a camouflage tactic. But it seems the reptile uses this ability to convey its potential strength to its enemy too, reveals a recent study.
A study conducted by the researchers at Arizona State University says that speedy color-change in chameleons, especially in males, is a signal of their possible virility and strength to other members in and around. The color shifting denotes the ability of the male chameleons to win over a territory or a female opponent, states the recent study published in the latest journal of the Royal Society Biology Letters.
The researchers tested ten chameleons, pairing them into 45 different combinations and leaving them alone in a deserted place for 30 minutes. An automatic digital camera was placed to capture the color changes of the chameleons every 4 seconds, reports Live Science.
Some pairs behaved, others were seen head-butting, biting and lunging against each other. According to Russell Ligion, the co author of the study, the chameleons who stayed away from each other, was because of the comparatively brighter color changes noticed in one of the opponent. The weaker partner stayed away from the stronger enemy.
When a male chameleon gets aggressive his body color changes from drab brown to bright turquoise combined with yellow strips. The yellow strips signify the dominance of the stronger chameleon. They even flatten their bodies to display their colors more prominently.
"They basically turn their whole bodies into a big billboard, which makes sense. If you're communicating with colour, you want to maximise the size of the message that you're sending," said Ligion, reports ABCnews.
A few chameleons tend to miss the first signals and they come up with brighter patches on the head inviting the other to fight. Chameleons with brightest head color usually win the fight.
"If the chameleons can figure that out before they actually have to fight each other, the little guy benefits because he doesn't get beat up and the big guy benefits because he doesn't have to waste his time and energy on someone he will beat anyway," said Ligion, in a statement.
The researchers matched the data recovered from the color changes with earlier studies on photoreceptors in Chameleon's and found that dominance was related to the perception of brighter patches on chameleon's body.
