Prateek says a chameleon changes color to match its surroundings, in order to hide

Why

Prateek's belief is one of the most repeated 'facts' about chameleons in cartoons and simplified nature stories, where color-change is drawn as a camouflage trick — a vivid, memorable image that overshadows what actually happens. A chameleon's colour mainly signals its MOOD and intentions to other chameleons — a stressed or threatened one often turns dark, almost black, while a calm one stays lighter — and it also helps regulate body TEMPERATURE, since chameleons cannot generate their own body heat: darker skin absorbs more warmth in cool weather, lighter skin reflects heat away when it is hot. Test it: a chameleon does not actually match the exact colour of whatever it happens to be sitting on — if camouflage-matching were the main driver, a chameleon on a red brick wall would need to be able to turn red, but its natural colour range is built around signaling and temperature control, not exact background-copying. His sister is right: mood, temperature regulation, and communicating with other chameleons are the main reasons for the colour change — camouflage is, at most, a small side effect, not the actual mechanism.