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Animal Physiology And Anatomy : The Skin Structure Of Panther Chameleons

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Animal Biology Research Paper
It is apparent that chameleons are remarkable animals due to the fact that they possess various abilities which many other animals do not. The one ability that outstands the most from the rest is the ability to change color. Ever since the discovery of chameleons, many scientists have elaborated hypotheses as to how they are able to change color. The theory that has been adopted by many researchers and animal enthusiasts has been that chameleons change color due to the expansion of small pigment-filled sacs called chromatophores. This mechanism/technic is seen in various animals such as those within the Mollusca phylum (e.g. squid, cuttlefish, octopi). This research experiment gives rise to the truth as to how …show more content…

The symmetrically triangular s-iridophores, hence the name, were found to be in the superficial part of the chameleons’ skin; male chameleons showed to possess a more developed layer of this crystal, whereas female and juvenile chameleons possessed an underdeveloped form of these crystals. The more asymmetric rectangular d-iridophores were found to be located in the deeper part of all female, male, and juvenile chameleons’ skin.
The drive to fully understand how these guanine nanocrystals influence color change in chameleons lead the researchers to extend their research. It was addressed that the s-iridophores were able to relatively change the distance between one another, whereas, for the d-iridophores, were more fixed when compared to the s-iridophores. It was observed that s-iridophores that appeared to be positioned at closer proximities to each other expressed the color blue, and sections of the skin where the iridophores were positioned further apart expressed the color red (usually when males are excited). After disproving the initial hypothesis, the experimenters quickly formulated another cause and effect relationship between the role of the s-iridophores and color change. The researchers hypothesized, for a second time, that chameleons modify/move their guanine reflective crystals to a

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