How do chameleons change colour?

A chameleon is a slow, knobbly lizard with swivelling eyes — and one amazing superpower. It can change the colour of its skin! How does it do such a magic trick?

Tiny colour boxes in the skin

A chameleon’s skin is packed with special colour parts called colour cells. Inside these cells are little dots of colour and shiny crystals.

When the cells spread their colour and crystals wide apart, the skin shows one colour. When the cells squeeze them close together, the light bounces differently and the skin shows a new colour. By stretching and shrinking, the chameleon paints itself!

Colour with a meaning

A chameleon does not only change colour to hide. Its colour also shows how it feels.

• A calm, happy chameleon is often green or brown, helping it blend in with leaves and branches.
• An angry or excited one can flash bright yellow, orange or red to say “stay away!”
• A cold chameleon may go darker so it soaks up more sunshine and warms up.

Not really invisible

Even though chameleons can match many backgrounds, they cannot turn into any colour at all. Mostly they shift between greens, browns and yellows — perfect for life among the leaves.

Wonder fact: A chameleon’s two eyes can look in two different directions at once — one watching for lunch while the other watches for danger!