Shropshire Star

Scientists have made a surprising new discovery about chameleons

‘We could hardly believe our eyes when we illuminated the chameleons in our collection with a UV lamp.’

Published
Fluorescent pattern of the chameleon Calumma globifer from Madagascar (David Protzel/ZSM/LMU)

Chameleons are famous for their colour-changing abilities but it appears they also perform another function no-one knew about until now: bioluminescence.

A new study has found that the bony areas in the heads of several chameleon species glow a fluorescent blue under ultraviolet light, which “surprised” the scientists.

While bioluminescence has been widely observed in creatures that live in water – from bacteria and algae to jellyfish and even sharks – it is rare among land animals.

Using a UV lamp, the researchers in Germany found “previously invisible” patterns on the head to glow blue.

The team used micro-CT scans to pinpoint the distribution of bony projections on their skulls, known as tubercles.

They found that the features coincided perfectly with the pattern of fluorescence.

Dr Frank Glaw, curator of herpetology at ZSM, said: “It has long been known that bones fluoresce under UV light, but that animals use this phenomenon to fluoresce themselves has surprised us and was previously unknown.”

Fluorescent pattern of the chameleon Calumma globifer from Madagascar.
Fluorescent tubercle pattern of the chameleon Calumma globifer from Madagascar revealed under UV light (David Protzel/ZSM/LMU)

In the genus Calumma, the males were found to have far more of the fluorescent tubercle patterns than females.

The team believes chameleons use fluorescence as a means of communication, adding that the blue glow is likely to be easily recognisable in the forest, acting as a signal to other chameleons of the same species

The research is published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.