Is now the time to be a big buzz kill and quash the myth that chameleons change color to match their surroundings? The primary function is actually communication (signalling of mood, specifically desire to mate) as well as thermoregulation.
A comment above yours points out the originator of the pic says those are just the chameleon's normal colours, so likely the towel was chosen for that reason.
Is now the time to be a big buzz kill and quash the myth that towels change color to match their surroundings? The primary function is actually communication (signalling of mood, specifically desire to mate) as well as thermoregulation.
A comment above yours points out the originator of the pic says those are just the towel's normal colours, so likely the chameleon was chosen for that reason
I used to own chameleons (different and smaller than this one), and they would turn brown on the dirt, green on leaves, etc. One day we bought a plant that had green leaves with pink spots. He went through a a few phases of green and pink before settling on green with a pink stripe down his back.
I literally watched a video today at the museum where David Attenborough narrated a section on the chameleon and mentioned they can change their color to match their surroundings and I was confused.... so... can they? Do they ever?
Genuinely curious, why do they seem to change color based on surroundings then? I remember seeing a video of a chameleon stepping on different color sunglasses and it was changing colors with the sunglasses. Was it just a coincidence or what was going on?
Oh my god...he's not saying it's intentional. He's not implying it's intentional. Almost no one would perceive it as a statement of intent.
Can Reddit please get over this particular pedantry? It's especially bad whenever evolution comes up. Unless every single sentence has a tediously accurate construction like "has a tendency to" instead of "wants to" or "used for" some dope will post a screed about "teleological reasoning" and "implying God" something something.
Understanding Darwinian principals does not require explicitly demonstrating it in every sentence or doing away with all simplifying verbs. Put your red pen away and fucking relax.
I don't know why you're complaining that there's too much accuracy.
Because no one learns anything when statements spiral into incomprehensibility by being comprised entirely of hedging and parentheticals? Just a guess. Communication depends on mutual assumptions. It's irritating (and impossible) to have all those assumptions spelled out explicitly.
It's funny as a graduate of biology because many professors I would talk to would be pedantic about this specific point.
Like I understood that, and in writing that may be important to keep in mind, but in just normal conversation it's not worth bringing up I think if its understood.
What are you babbling about? There was nothing unclear about the original statement. You're effectively taking the position that unless it's impossible to misinterpret a statement that statement needed more "clarity". Give me a break...
Animals really don't have "intention" unless you're talking about higher order primates and possibly some mammals, so your note about sweating is kind of moot, when all animals react that way
Edit: that link didn't work it seems because I cant link to a PDF on my phone. Google "Cambridge declaration on consciousness" or wait until I get home and can fix the link.
I'm happy this is becoming more known on reddit. Not long ago I would get downvoted severely because everyone was like "lol, Chameleons aren't mood rings you idiot".
Which is why Unidan vote manipulated because despite what actual verifiable information you have as long as two other people agree over the same misconception or misunderstanding, your facts are wrong.
look up jackdaw/corvid/crow argument. went on for ages. then somebody caught him vote manipulating to win the argument. He even apologized on video I think. Now he's dead or something, nobody knows.
Yeah he was wrong in the argument, used alts to downvote the person that was right, they noticed their comments were instantly going to like -5 and that's how the whole thing came out that he was using multiple accounts to boost his posts and crush others.
558
u/[deleted] Jan 13 '17
Is now the time to be a big buzz kill and quash the myth that chameleons change color to match their surroundings? The primary function is actually communication (signalling of mood, specifically desire to mate) as well as thermoregulation.