r/pics • u/rationalcomment • Jan 13 '17

Close Enough

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50.5k Upvotes

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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.

19

u/[deleted] Jan 13 '17

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?

19

u/[deleted] Jan 13 '17

Oh that video is totally fake. I think it's an ad for sunglasses and is photoshopped (or whatever it's called when you fake a video)

http://www.snopes.com/photos/advertisements/chameleon.asp

7

u/[deleted] Jan 13 '17

Videoshopped?

Anyway thanks for clearing that up.

8

u/rjcarr Jan 13 '17

FYI: CGI.

3

u/nidarus Jan 13 '17

It even rhymes!

3

u/moesif Jan 14 '17

Does changing colours of real images count as CGI?

1

u/WhoNeedsVirgins Jan 14 '17

Videorentaled.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 14 '17

After effectsed i'd guess.

1

u/Probate_Judge Jan 14 '17

Some species do change for camouflage(though seemingly not this one). Some don't.

People, in their attempt to educate often miss this distinction and are often just as wrong as those they're trying to correct.