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Bunglon chameleon menggunakan
bahasa yang berwarna-warni untuk berkomunikasi: daerah tubuh Bunglon chameleon adalah
'Billboard' untuk berbagai jenis informasi
Chameleons use colorful language to communicate: Chameleons' body regions
are 'billboards' for different types of information
Date:
December 11,
2013
Source:
Arizona State University
Summary:
To protect themselves, some animals rapidly change
color when their environments change, but chameleons change colors in unusual
ways when they interact with other chameleons. Researchers have discovered that
these color changes don't happen "out-of-the-blue" -- instead, they
convey different types of information during important social interactions.
........................
To protect themselves, some animals rapidly change color
when their environments change, but chameleons change colors in unusual ways
when they interact with other chameleons. Arizona State University researchers
have discovered that these color changes don't happen
"out-of-the-blue" -- instead, they convey different types of
information during important social interactions.
For example,
when male chameleons challenge each other for territory or a female, their
coloring becomes brighter and much more intense. Males that display brighter
stripes when they are aggressive are more likely to approach their opponent,
and those that achieve brighter head colors are more likely to win fights.
Also, how quickly their heads change color is an important predictor of which
chameleon will win a skirmish.
The results
of the study are published online today in the journal Biology Letters.
Russell
Ligon, a doctoral candidate in ASU's School of Life Sciences, and Kevin McGraw,
an associate professor in the school, used photographic and mathematical
modeling tools in new ways to study how the color change of veiled chameleons (Chameleon
calyptratus) relates to aggressive behavior. They studied the distance,
maximum brightness and speed of color change of 28 different patches across the
chameleons' bodies.
"We
found that the stripes, which are most apparent when chameleons display their
bodies laterally to their opponents, predict the likelihood that a chameleon will
follow up with an actual approach," said Ligon. "In addition, head
coloration -- specifically brightness and speed of color change -- predicted
which was lizard was going to win."
Chameleons
typically have resting colors that range from brown to green, with hints of
yellow, but each chameleon has unique markings. During a contest, the lizards
show bright yellows, oranges, greens and turquoises. Interestingly, when the
chameleons showed-off their stripes from a distance and followed that display
with a "head-on" approach before combat, the important color signals
on the striped parts of the body and head were accentuated.
"By
using bright color signals and drastically changing their physical appearance,
the chameleons' bodies become almost like a billboard -- the winner of a fight
is often decided before they actually make physical contact," Ligon said.
"The winner is the one that causes its opponent to retreat. While
sometimes they do engage in physical combat, these contests are very short --
five to 15 seconds. More often than not, their color displays end the contest
before they even get started."
This is the
first study of its kind. The research team took pictures of color standards and
estimated the sensitivity of different photoreceptors in their cameras. Then,
they used information on the physiology and sensitivity of the photoreceptors
of chameleons, and were able to measure the colors actually seen by the
lizards. Though this method has previously been used to quantify static
(unchanging) coloration, this study is the first to quantify rapid color change
while incorporating the visual sensitivities of the animals under study.
There are
approximately 160 species of chameleons in the world. Veiled chameleons (Chameleon
calyptratus) are native to the Arabian Peninsula -- specifically Yemen and
Saudi Arabia. They are omnivorous and live essentially solitary lives except
when mating. Many chameleons are at great risk, as destruction of their
habitats is occurring at alarming rates.
Story
Source:
The above
story is based on materials provided by Arizona State University. Note: Materials may be edited
for content and length.
Journal
Reference:
- R. A. Ligon, K. J. McGraw. Chameleons communicate with complex colour changes during contests: different body regions convey different information. Biology Letters, 2013; 9 (6): 20130892 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2013.0892
