How Do Chameleons Change Color?

Location: Worldwide
Species: chameleons
Added: 2025-12-6
Published: 2015-3-11
Source: Veritasium

Discover how chameleons are able to change colour. Thy have two main mechanisms: dispersing pigments and ad-justing the spacing of nanocrystals in special skin cells called iridophores. By changing the distribution of pigments like melanin and altering the spacing between nanocrystals in iridophores, they can change the wavelengths of light that are reflected, resulting in fast colour changes.