A movie where a wild chameleon with the shortest lifespan vividly changes its body color as if reading a ``death poem'' on the verge of death



The Labode chameleon , which lives in southwestern Madagascar, has the shortest lifespan of any known tetrapod , living less than six months after hatching. The moment the Labode chameleon ends its short life after passing on its life to the next generation has been captured on video.

Watch chameleon erupt in color 'as if uttering her last words' in her final moments before death | Live Science
https://www.livescience.com/animals/lizards/watch-chameleon-erupt-in-color-as-if-uttering-her-last-words-in-her-final-moments-before-death

By playing the video below, you can watch the moment of spawning and death of a female Labode chameleon, filmed by the American Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the Kirindi Forest Reserve in western Madagascar.

Female Chameleon Erupts with Color Before Death - YouTube


Labode chameleon laying eggs. The narrator says, ``Her short life was meant to bring her to this moment.''



Once the eggs are laid, they use their last strength to cover them with soil. 'Mother chameleons put all their energy into laying eggs so that their eggs can survive long droughts underground, and when they run out of energy, they die just hours after laying eggs,' PBS says. Producer Valeria Fabbri-Kennedy and American Museum of Natural History biologist Chris Luxworthy spoke to IT news site Live Science.



When the research team was observing Labode chameleons in order to investigate the life history of Labode chameleons, whose ecology is not well known, the movement of one individual rapidly slowed down. Therefore, the research team immediately set up a time-lapse camera and succeeded in capturing the moment when a wild Labode chameleon reached its final moments.



The chameleon was breathing weakly for a while after lying on the ground, but soon its body color began to change rapidly.



According to Live Science, chameleons change the reflection of light and change the color of their skin by expanding and contracting special cells containing nanocrystals. Fabry-Kennedy et al. explained, ``The footage shows how nerve signals continue to be transmitted even at the time of death, and the shape of the skin cells changes, creating a chaotic, richly colored pattern.'' To do.



The mother chameleon finally took its last breath. During this time, all Labode chameleons, including males, reach the end of their lifespans in the forests of Madagascar at the same time, and when the dry season arrives, Labode chameleons die out, leaving behind their eggs under the soil.



The lifespan of an adult that hatches from an egg is about 4 to 5 months, but it takes about 8 to 9 months for an egg to hatch. In other words, Labode chameleons spend about two-thirds of their lives underground as eggs.



Fabry-Kennedy and her colleagues said: ``When we reviewed the footage, we were amazed and moved by this colorful scene, which scientists had never seen before in the wild.'' I did.''

in Science,   Creature,   Video, Posted by log1l_ks