All chameleon species are able to change their skin colour. Changing colour is an expression of the physical and physiological condition of the lizard. The colour also plays a part in communication.
Different chameleon species are able to change different colors which can include pink, blue, red, orange, green, black, brown and yellow.
Despite popular belief, chameleons cannot change color to their surroundings. Chameleons are naturally coloured for their surroundings as a camouflage.
Chameleons have specialized cells, collectively called chromatophores, that lie in layers under their transparent outer skin. The cells in the upper layer, called xanthophores and erythrophores, contain yellow and red pigments respectively. Below these is another layer of cells called iridophores or guanophores, and they contain the colourless crystalline substance guanine. These reflect, among others, the blue part of incident light. If the upper layer of chromatophores appears mainly yellow, the reflected light becomes green (blue plus yellow). A layer of dark melanin containing melanophores is situated even deeper under the reflective iridophores. The melanophores influence the 'lightness' of the reflected light. All these pigment cells can rapidly relocate their pigments, thereby influencing the colour of the chameleon.
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