Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40765271›Full record

ArticleBiology letters2025

Flap-necked chameleons change colour to match their background.

Tom Major, Alexia C M Hesten, Jan Stipala, Michael A Cant, Martin Stevens, Jolyon Troscianko

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Biology letters, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Tom MajorCentre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-0351-6593
Alexia C M HestenCentre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK.ORCID 0009-0002-1156-1113
Jan StipalaCentre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK.ORCID 0009-0006-1334-1033
Michael A CantCentre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-1530-3077
Martin StevensCentre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-7768-3426
Jolyon TrosciankoCentre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-9071-2594

Funding

European Research Council
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Popular culture leads us to believe that chameleons change colour to match their backgrounds, yet surprisingly, this ability has rarely been demonstrated under controlled conditions. Existing research shows that colour change is primarily used for social signalling and thermoregulation, and that chameleons revert to a generic background-matching colour for camouflage rather than tuning their colour to specific backgrounds. Here, to test the background-matching abilities of flap-necked chameleons (

Indexed as

Biological MimicryLizardsPigmentationAnimalsColorcamouflagechameleoncolour changecrypsissocial signalling

Identifiers

PMID40765271
PMCPMC12326199

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.