Animals With Feathers for Kids Easy Story All About Chameleons in the Wilde
Lovely lizards.In the reptile world, there are some bizarre shapes and colors, but some of the most striking variations are found in the chameleons. These colorful lizards are known for their ability to change their color; their long, sticky tongue; and their eyes, which can be moved independently of each other.
Get a handle on it. Chameleons spend their life in trees and bushes. Most lizards have five toes, but the chameleon's five toes are modified into groups: on the forefoot, the two outside toes are joined to form one group, and the three inside toes form another; the hind foot has the opposite arrangement. This allows them to grasp branches just like our thumbs and fingers can grasp objects.
The chameleon's tail also helps with life up high: most have a prehensile tail that can wrap around tree branches while climbing. For this reason, the chameleon's tail cannot be broken off and regrown like those of many other lizards.
The eyes have it.The chameleon's eyes are the most distinctive among reptiles. Each eye has a scaly lid shaped like a cone, with only a small, round opening in the middle for the pupil. The chameleon can rotate and focus its eyes separately to look at two different objects at the same time! This gives it a full 360-degree view around its body. When the chameleon sees prey, both eyes can focus in the same direction to get a clearer view.
The skinny on skin.How chameleons change color is a fascinating and complicated process. First of all, they don't really change color to match their surroundings, and they cannot change to any and all colors. For example, if a chameleon is sitting on a red-and-white polka dot tablecloth, it will not turn red and develop round, white spots! Chameleons don't look at what they're sitting on and deliberately decide to match it. Instead, each chameleon species has a group of patterns and colors that it is able to display.
Chameleons have four layers of skin: the outer, protective layer, called the epidermis; the chromatophore layer, which contains yellow and red pigments; the melanophore layer, which has the dark pigment melanin and can create brown and black colors or reflect blue; and the nether layer, which only reflects white. Nerve impulses and hormone changes cause the color cells in these layers to expand and shrink, and the blending of the different layers creates the colors and patterns that we see.
Through the field of bioinspiration, scientists and engineers are digging deep to discover what chemical and biological mechanisms allow chameleons to change color. So far, a prototype T-shirt that changes color has been created with the same process that the chameleon uses.
A water-catching casque.The veiled chameleon is a large chameleon found in the mountain regions of Yemen and Saudi Arabia where there is very little water. Males and females differ greatly in size, with the males being much larger, although both have a decorative growth on their head that looks like a party hat but is called a casque. The casque acts like a water collector: at night, droplets of moisture roll down the casque and into the chameleon's open mouth!
Males also have a spur on each hind leg. Veiled chameleons are omnivores, eating insects, leaves, and flowers. Female veiled chameleons can produce three clutches of eggs a year. Each clutch may have 20 to 70 eggs and take 6 to 9 months to hatch.
Little mysteries. Brookesia is a chameleon genus found in Madagascar and its members are considered the world's smallest chameleons.Brookesia chameleons have a short, non-prehensile tail. Most in this genus were only identified to science within the last 30 years and do not even have common names. Due to their small size and secretive nature, they have not been studied as much as their larger relatives.
There are currently 26 recognized species in theBrookesia genus. We still have much to learn about these amazing lizards!
Source: https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/chameleon
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