The jewled
lacerta, also known as the ocellated lizard, is being studied by scientists
because of its scale patterns. These lizards are born with brown bodies and
white polka dots, become black and bright green as it ages, and finally is either
all black or all green at sexual maturity. Depending on the habitat, the lizard
will flip between black and green. This switch is what scientists say “unfold
like a computer simulation” (Yin, 2017). A genetics professor from University
of Geneva compares the changing scales to a cellular automaton. Cellular
automaton is a computer rule-based model. Scientists are testing if this
cellular automaton is a genetic or environmental trait.
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