color is a rarity in the animal world, and also a mystery, until now!

在動物世界中，顏色是一種罕見的東西，也是一個謎，直到現在！

Hey everybody thank you for watching DNews today. I'm Trace and I am right here on our

大家好，感謝收看今天的DNews。我是特雷斯，我正在我們的

brand new set!

全新套裝！

Chameleons change color so well, and are so well known across the planet for doing so,

變色龍的變色能力非常強，而且在全球範圍內都非常有名、

that their name is synonymous with someone who is good at changing their look, behavior

他們的名字與善於改變自己的外表、行為的人同義

or opinions as their situation changes. Most people think chameleons change color for camouflage,

或意見。大多數人認為變色龍變色是為了偽裝、

but that's not it at all! Only the males can change color, and they do so to communicate

但事實並非如此！只有雄性會變色，它們這樣做是為了交流

danger to other nearby chameleons, or for a mating display. Ladies. *wink*

對附近的其他變色龍造成危險，或者進行交配表演。女士們*眨眨眼

It's a pretty dramatic show when a chameleon swaps its green for bright red, and thanks

當變色龍把綠色換成鮮紅色時，場面相當壯觀。

to new research, we now know HOW they do it. Researchers from the University of Geneva

根據最新研究，我們現在知道它們是如何做到這一點的了。日內瓦大學的研究人員

looked at the skin cells of chameleons to observe how they change color. Within their

研究人員觀察了變色龍的皮膚細胞，以瞭解它們是如何變色的。在它們的

skin, it turns out, chameleons have cells called iridophores. Suspended within those

原來，變色龍的皮膚上有一種叫做虹膜的細胞。懸浮在這些

cells are tiny guanine nanocrystals which are formed into a lattice. When relaxed, the

細胞是形成晶格的微小鳥嘌呤納米晶體。放鬆時

chameleons’ iridophore lattices are contracted, and mainly reflect blue light, but when excited

變色龍的虹彩體晶格是收縮的，主要反射藍光，但當被激發時

the chameleon expands and three dimensional lattices expand along with them, reflecting

變色龍膨脹，三維晶格也隨之膨脹，反映出

different wavelengths of light! Below that layer, there's a layer of skin with even larger

不同波長的光！在這層皮膚下面，還有一層皮膚，其波長更大。

nanocrystals which reflect near-infrared light; providing "passive thermal protection." Which

納米晶體可反射近紅外線，提供被動熱保護。

is great, because these cold-blooded animals can't change their body temperature; changing

因為這些冷血動物無法改變自己的體溫；改變體溫

that base layer may be one way they can affect how much near-infrared light, and therefore

這可能是它們影響近紅外線光量的一種方式，是以也可能是它們影響近紅外線光量的一種方式。

heat, is absorbed into their body,.

熱量會被他們的身體吸收。

Camouflage is also called cryptic coloration; or a color and pattern that makes an animal

偽裝也被稱為隱色；或者說是一種顏色和圖案，它能使動物

difficult to discern from its surroundings; concealing it. The ability to CHANGE colors

難以從周圍環境中辨別出來；將其隱藏起來。改變顏色的能力

isn't unique to chameleons -- some fish, frogs, insects, crustaceans, cephalopods, and other

這並非變色龍所獨有--一些魚類、青蛙、昆蟲、甲殼類動物、頭足類動物和其他

lizards can do it too, but they don't have nanocrystals… this research is the first

蜥蜴也能做到這一點，但它們沒有納米晶體......這項研究是首例

time that's been seen in reptiles. And other animals use different methods of color shifting.

這是在爬行動物身上看到的。其他動物也使用不同的變色方法。

Cuttlefish, for example, can also change their colors at will; but rather than crystal-filled

例如，墨魚也能隨意改變自己的顏色，但不是充滿水晶的

iridophores, they use chromatophores. Chromatophores are sacs of a single pigment of color surrounded

它們使用色團。色素體是由單一色素組成的囊狀結構，周圍環繞著虹膜。

by muscle. The cuttlefish has learned to widen or constrict that sac to show more or less

肌肉。墨魚學會了擴大或收縮囊，以顯示更多或更少

of that color. Invertebrates like cephalopods use these chromatophores too, and for more

的顏色。無脊椎動物（如頭足類）也會使用這些色素體，而更多的無脊椎動物（如頭足類）則會使用這些色素體。

on that you can check out our video exploring how the disco clam can reflect light like

關於這一點，您可以查看我們的視頻，瞭解迪斯科蛤蜊如何反射光線，就像

a disco ball!

一個迪斯科球

Over time, evolution, mutation and simply breeding with others can cause changes in

隨著時間的推移，進化、變異以及與他人的簡單繁殖都會導致以下變化

the colors of species, humans included -- all blue-eyed humans descend from a single mutated

物種的顏色，包括人類在內 -- 所有藍眼睛的人類都是由一個變異的

ancestor. Usually because those animals which have these colorful adaptations tend to survive

祖先。通常是因為那些具有這些多彩適應性的動物往往能存活下來

better. Zebra stripes confuse predatory eyes, helping to disguise individuals and making

更好。斑馬條紋能迷惑捕食者的眼睛，有助於偽裝個體，使其更容易被發現。

the herd look more massive; background matching camouflage helps both predators like tigers

使虎群看起來更龐大；背景匹配的偽裝可幫助老虎等食肉動物

blend with their environment; as well as helping their prey hide by resembling it's surroundings…

與周圍環境融為一體，並通過與周圍環境相似來幫助獵物隱藏起來

but these adaptations take many generations to develop! Active color change is pretty

但這些適應性需要很多代才能形成！主動變色非常漂亮

rare in the Animal Kingdom. Before this research, scientists believed chameleons changed color

在動物王國中非常罕見。在這項研究之前，科學家們認為變色龍會變色

the same as cuttlefish or octopuses, but once they put the skin cells into a super-magnifying

與墨魚或章魚一樣，但一旦它們將皮膚細胞放入一個超級放大鏡中

electron microscope, they were able to see this unique and super cool system for reflecting

在電子顯微鏡下，他們看到了這個獨特而超酷的反射系統。

light!

輕

How do you think humans camouflage into our surroundings? Do we? Why or why not...

你認為人類是如何偽裝到周圍環境中的？我們會嗎？為什麼？