• Question: if you put a chameleon in a room full of mirrors, what colour would it turn?

    Asked by alexcarrx to Clare, Glafkos, Paul, Samantha on 9 Mar 2015.
    • Photo: Samantha Terry

      Samantha Terry answered on 9 Mar 2015:

      whatever the background colour in the room is?

    • Photo: Glafkos Havariyoun

      Glafkos Havariyoun answered on 9 Mar 2015:

      Let’s say the whole room is mirrored. Floor, walls, ceiling and no windows! The room has no light then ! So the chameleon will turn black because the room is dark and black 🙂 ! Nice one!

    • Photo: Clare Devery

      Clare Devery answered on 9 Mar 2015:

      This is a tough one! I like Glafkos’s answer, that seems to make perfect sense. I’m slightly hesitant over whether it’s true or not though! I saw a documentary on chameleons once and remember that, contrary to popular belief, chameleons don’t actually change colour to blend in with their environment, it’s actually more to do with social cues or sometimes thermoregulatory responses. So if the mirrored room was really cold, the chameleon would turn black to absorb as much heat as possible. Or if the mirrored room was really hot, the chameleon would change to a lighter colour to try and reflect the heat away.

    • Photo: Paul Booker

      Paul Booker answered on 9 Mar 2015:

      I think if a chameleon were suddenly put in a room full of mirrors it would go whatever colour that species/individual went when it was scared and angry! Chameleons don’t recognise their own reflection, so would suddenly be surrounded by lots of potential enemies…

    • Photo: anon

      anon answered on 10 Mar 2015:

      What colour was the chameleon when you first put it in?

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