How does the panther chameleon see?
The panther chameleon (Furcifer pardalis) is a reptile in the order not recorded. Its eyes belong to the vision type Chameleon independent eyes: two independently moving turret eyes, telephoto lens, near-panoramic scan, high acuity.
Measured in this species: colour, foveas and night vision. Measured core: measured values on at least 3 of the 6 dials. Every value below carries its evidence level and sources; nothing is typed by hand.
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What stands out
- It has 6 colour receptor classes, including ultraviolet; people have 3.
- It stops seeing flicker at 34.6 Hz, against 60 Hz for people in this dataset, so fast motion looks choppier to it.[8][9]
- Activity pattern: diurnal.
The six dials
Evidence levels: how the tiers work. "Measured" means a value measured in this species; "Estimated" values come from a close relative or an eye-size formula.
| Dial | Value | Evidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colour | Colour receptors 6 receptor classes: 375 nm (UVS), 444 nm (SWS (blue)), 490 nm (MWS (green)), 559 nm (LWS (long)), 575 nm (LWS (long)), 604 nm (LWS (long)) measured in this species | Measured | [1] |
| Ultraviolet yes: at least one receptor peaks in the ultraviolet | Measured | ||
| Sharpness | No value in the catalogue. | ||
| Field of view | Eye placement independent | No data | |
| Sharp zones (foveas) | Number of foveas 1 species-v1.csv text: 1 (central deep fovea) | Measured (not re-verified) | [2] |
| Fovea type central fovea | Measured (not re-verified) | [2] | |
| Night vision | Activity pattern diurnal mode of 3 rows (of 3 rows): Diurnal; diurnal | Measured (not re-verified) | [1][3][4] |
| Pupil shape round (or oval) | Group default | [5][6] | |
| Rods vs cones cone-dominated nocturnal -> rod-dominated; crepuscular / cathemeral / mixed -> mixed; diurnal -> cone-dominated | Derived | [1][3][4] | |
| Motion (flicker fusion) | Flicker fusion frequency 34.6 Hz median of 15 relatives in class Squamata: Phrynosoma cornutum, Sphaerodactylus inaguae, Anolis cristatellus, Anolis gundlachi, Anolis pulchellus, Iguana iguana | Group default | [7][8][9][10] |
Related animals
- Flap-necked chameleon same vision type
- Green anole same order ()
- Red-eared slider same order ()
- Saltwater crocodile same order ()
- Tokay gecko same order ()
- Western diamondback rattlesnake same order ()
More reptiles: all reptiles with measured vision data.
Sources
- Longcore T. 2023. A compendium of photopigment peak sensitivities and visual spectral response curves of terrestrial wildlife to guide design of outdoor nighttime lighting. Basic Appl Ecol 73:40-50. doi:10.1016/j.baae.2023.09.002. doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8432720
- species_v1:Ott & Schaeffel 1995
- Meiri 2024. SquamBase: a database of squamate (Reptilia: Squamata) traits. Global Ecol Biogeogr (data Zenodo 10602503).. doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10602503
- Moura et al. 2024. A phylogeny-informed characterisation of global tetrapod traits addresses data gaps and biases. PLoS Biol 22:e3002658. TetrapodTraits v3.0.1.. doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22536349
- Banks MS, Sprague WW, Schmoll J, Parnell JAQ, Love GD. 2015. Science Advances 1:e1500391. doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1500391
- Oskyrko O, Mi C, Meiri S, Du W. 2024. ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data 11 (doi:10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5). Dataset v1-2 (includes Meiri 2018 lizard traits). doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4
- Haarlem CS, Hynes C, Jackson AL, Mitchell KJ, O'Connell RG, Healy K. 2026. Pace of ecology drives the tempo of visual perception across the animal kingdom. Nature Ecology & Evolution (doi:10.1038/s41559-026-02994-7). Figshare dataset 10.6084/m9.figshare.30556475. doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.30556475
- Healy K, McNally L, Ruxton GD, Cooper N, Jackson AL. 2013. Metabolic rate and body size are linked with perception of temporal information. Animal Behaviour 86:685-696. Table 1. doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.06.018
- Inger R, Bennie J, Davies TW, Gaston KJ. 2014. Potential biological and ecological effects of flickering artificial light. PLoS ONE 9(5): e98631. Table 3. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0098631
- Lafitte A, Sordello R, Legrand M, Nicolas V, Obein G, Reyjol Y. 2022. A flashing light may not be that flashy: A systematic review on critical fusion frequencies. PLoS ONE 17(12): e0279718. S10 File (CFF database). doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279718
Every value cites its sources (all sources). Data: catalogue-v1, built 2026-09-29. Accuracy notes: how accurate is this?