On Closer Inspection

On Closer Inspection... more

by Elizabeth McTaggart

Title

On Closer Inspection

Artist

Elizabeth McTaggart

Medium

Digital Art - Fractal Art

Description

On Closer Inspection

Chameleons (family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of lizards. The approximately 160 species of chameleon come in a variety of colors, including pink, blue, red, orange, turquoise, yellow, and green. They are distinguished by their zygodactylous feet; their separately mobile, stereoscopic eyes; their very long, highly modified, rapidly extrudable tongues; their swaying gait; and crests or horns on their distinctively shaped heads. Some species can change color, and many have a prehensile tail. Uniquely adapted for climbing and visual hunting, they are found in warm habitats that vary from rain forest to desert conditions--in Africa, Madagascar, and southern Europe, and across south Asia as far as Sri Lanka. They have also been introduced to Hawaii, California, and Florida, and are often kept as household pets.

Mechanism of color change~~

Chameleons have specialized cells, chromatophores, which contain pigments in their cytoplasm, in three layers below their transparent outer skin:
* The cells in the upper layer, called xanthophores and erythrophores, contain yellow and red pigments respectively.
* Below these is a second layer of cells called iridophores or guanophores; these contain guanine, appearing blue or white.
* The deepest layer of cells, melanophores, contain the dark pigment melanin, controlling how much light is reflected.
Dispersion of the pigment granules in the chromatophores sets the intensity of each color. When the pigment is equally distributed in a chromatophore, the whole cell is intensively colored. When the pigment is located only in the centre of the cell, the cell appears mainly transparent. Chromatophores can rapidly relocate their particles of pigment, thereby influencing the animal's color. Chromatophores change because the cells get a message from the brain. Different chameleon species are able to change different colors which can include pink, blue, red, orange, green, black, brown, light blue, yellow, turquoise and purple.

Uploaded

February 5th, 2013