article_snippet: The chameleon’s ability to change colour may seem magical, but scientists have finally solved the riddle of how the reptile can blend into the background so effectively.
article_snippet: Swiss researchers revealed that chameleons use futuristic nanotechnology more advanced than anything humans possess to carry out chameleons extraordinary colour changes.
article_snippet: Swiss researchers have revealed that chameleons appear to be capable of rearranging crystals inside specialised skin cells to switch hues in order to attract a potential mate or scare off a rival.
article_snippet: A stock image of a colourful panther chameleon is shown .
article_snippet: Like some other reptiles, chameleons display a wide range of colours produced not by pigments but
article_snippet: In studies of the panther chameleon, which comes from Madagascar, scientists found that the creature actively controls the way the creature iridophore crystals generate colour.
article_snippet: When the chameleon is calm, the latter are organised into a dense network and reflect the blue wavelengths.
article_snippet: In contrast, when excited, the chameleon loosens the chameleon lattice of nanocrystals, which allows the reflection of other colours, such as yellows or reds.
article_snippet: By reflecting back the sun's heat energy, the cells prevent the chameleon getting too hot in the sun.
article_snippet: The scientists made The scientists discovery by watching video footage of chameleons changing colour from blue to green then into yellow and orange – a pattern that couldn’t be explained by pigments in the animal’s skin.
article_snippet: In studies of the panther chameleon (stock image), which comes from Madagascar, scientists found that the creature actively controls the way the creature iridophore crystals generate colour .
article_snippet: Further bolstering the idea that crystals in skin cells are responsible for the animal’s transformation, crystals in skin cells compared a sample of ‘relaxed’ chameleon skin with another when the animal was excited and observed a change in the crystal pattern.
article_snippet: Chameleons invented something completely new in evolution.
article_snippet: Chameleons split the iridophores into two layers, one that is specialised for colour change... and one to reduce the amount of energy absorbed by the animal.
article_snippet: That's an amazing toolkit that allows Chameleons to choose between being hidden or displaying very spectacular colours for communication - and on top of that Chameleons have this ability to control Chameleons temperature because of the deep iridophores.
highlights_snippet: University of Geneva researchers studied panther chameleons .
  