Science Visualized Animals

The scales of the ocellated lizard are surprisingly coordinated

Lizard grows into its flashy skin using a computer-like process

ocellated lizard

SPECKLED SKIN  The green and black spots on the back of an ocellated lizard are arranged according to the rules of a cellular automaton, a concept from computer science. Scales flip colors depending on the colors of their neighbors.

Juan Lacruz/Wikimedia commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

By Emily Conover

- More than 2 years ago

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A lizard’s intricately patterned skin follows rules like those used by a simple type of computer program.