55th Anniversary Juried Member's Exhibit - 2023
- August 11, 2023
- Exhibition
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- Artwork
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- Artists
Furcifer pardalis: not just a pretty face.
- Digital (Photoshop/Illustrator)
- Jorge Rojas Marquez
Chameleons as F. pardalis, are a group of reptiles that display three exceptional anatomical adaptations: 1. Being inside their brain (1.a) would be like watching two different movies at the same time in HD quality. Each eye can move independently of the other (1.b), providing a visual range of about 350°. 2. Once their prey is detected, the entoglossal process (2.a) and the accelerator muscle (2.b) release their potential energy and fire the tongue with an acceleration of 1000m/s2. 3. Under stress or during mating seasons, chameleons communicate by changing the color of their skin through cellular arrangements under their epidermis (3.a) called chromatophores (3.b). Each chromatophore in turn exhibits a layer of xanthophores, erythrophores, iridophores, and a basal layer of melanophores (3.c-f, respectively). Thanks to the combination of pigments and the rearrangement of guanine crystals (iridophores), color changes occur within a few minutes.