It took me a while, but the more I squinted at the pic above of Kitambi (one flap up), the more I thought... Melleri raise the furthest flap from the opponent because that is the lobe that makes them look larger in outline from a lateral or near-3/4 view. Raising the lobe closest to the opponent doesn't make as marked a change to the outline of the head. You can test this by printing out and tracing that pic (or any lateral view pic of a lobe raised). If you retrace it, and try to draw in the near side lobe raised, with the far lobe flat, the near lobe only makes a shallow bump in the outline. It's quite enough of a difference to notice, and the opponent may instinctively know that something with a bigger head may have a more damaging bite, & thus should be avoided. It would seem that these chameleons have an understanding of the visual perspective of their approaching/stationary opponents, either from the front or the side, and play upon that. Lateral compression, pffff, anyone can do that. It also makes energy-conserving sense to select one lobe to raise for an outline effect, instead of going all guns blazing (which would be both lobes, every single time). I wonder if they position themselves with the sun behind the far side, when approached in the wild, and really pull off the one-lobe bluff?

Yes, lobes are the best! I am a serial lobe thread starter.

__________________
Kristina Francis
http://www.melleridiscovery.com/

"The human mind treats a new idea the same way the
body treats a strange protein; it rejects it."
- Peter B. Medawar
Nobel Prize-winning immunologist

Megana- flat lobes







Hercules (the day we got him)- roll top lobes

Megana has the same style lobes as my two new females.

Here's a pic of #3 telling me that I am too close to her cricket bucket. She went from no lobes, to one lobe up, to both lobes in a just a few seconds. Note that she has turned her head towards me/camera, even though only one lobe is raised. Then, her other lobe flew right up for the full frontal. lol



I have a LTC male whose lobes are 1/3rd folded under. He is blowing out a huge shed right now, but I'll share pix soon.

__________________
Kristina Francis
http://www.melleridiscovery.com/

"The human mind treats a new idea the same way the
body treats a strange protein; it rejects it."
- Peter B. Medawar
Nobel Prize-winning immunologist

I answered my own question when I went through my old pix and found these. Sorry the photo quality isn't great. This was right before I discovered the tap water issue. The unrelated male squinted in anticipation of strikes from the other, which makes his eye look really odd. One brother is off in the background, as he wanted nothing to do with their dramatics.

Example of far lobe raised when laterally displaying at opponent:


Same male, utilizing backlighting as I mentioned:


Later, the two males with both lobes up, facing each other head-on:


Note how the higher-perched male's color changed from just spotty greens to full courtship color when he came down to face the lower male. I carried the smaller male back to his own cage, as it was getting a bit intense.

__________________
Kristina Francis
http://www.melleridiscovery.com/

"The human mind treats a new idea the same way the
body treats a strange protein; it rejects it."
- Peter B. Medawar
Nobel Prize-winning immunologist

thanks Kristina for the wonderful insight.
I am a meller fan (from a far)
I am not confident enough to keep one. That's why I always enjoy seeing beautiful pictures of this species.

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CARE FOR VEILED AND PANTHER CHAMELEON AT:
http://chamworld.blogspot.com

These guys have the largest mouths. Check out the cavern #3 presented to the camera. My goodness. You'd think they could really do some damage!

Here he is... Distal side of lobe:


Proximal side of lobe:


When he was a juvenile, the folded parts could be lifted by a finger. Now they have grafted to the skin of the backside/proximal side!

__________________
Kristina Francis
http://www.melleridiscovery.com/

"The human mind treats a new idea the same way the
body treats a strange protein; it rejects it."
- Peter B. Medawar
Nobel Prize-winning immunologist

I was examining my CB female the other day, and noticed that her lobes have changed yet again, and she's only 3 years old. Now, she has distinctly, sharply folded-over lobes, not round "rolltops" anymore.

If she's like a male here, the folded sections' inner surfaces will eventually fuse together permanently.

It certainly isn't from lack of use, everyone gets flippy at breeding time. Just a really odd observation...

__________________
Kristina Francis
http://www.melleridiscovery.com/

"The human mind treats a new idea the same way the
body treats a strange protein; it rejects it."
- Peter B. Medawar
Nobel Prize-winning immunologist

Finally got some good lobe pics of Dume:

note the alleycat-like gap in the right lobe

Hey! No eating with your lobes up!

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1.1.1 Ch. (T.) melleri, 1.2 Ch. (T.) jacksonii xantholophus
My work: www.gibbonsrock.com

Look at his muscles!!

If it takes a captive 6 years to reach Dume's skull size, do you think he's at least 8 or 9 years old?

__________________
Kristina Francis
http://www.melleridiscovery.com/

"The human mind treats a new idea the same way the
body treats a strange protein; it rejects it."
- Peter B. Medawar
Nobel Prize-winning immunologist