The alligator that turned blue

The large gator looks a stunning shade of blue as the bright morning sky reflects off her wet back. She appeared to change from her usual dark brown to black, gray and blue over the space of just a few minutes as the sun rose over the lake at 7am. But unlike a chameleon, the change of color was not a conscious decision. It was purely down to the sky reflecting off her shiny scales.

Biology professor Louis Guillette, 55, took the picture on a lake next to his home in Gainesville, Florida, United States. He said: "It was a cold and clear spring morning. I went out to watch the sun come up on the small lake, which was covered in mist.

"As the mist cleared there was a 2.3 meter American alligator about five meters in the water in front of me. It was watching and waiting for the sun to come up as well. We sat quietly and let the sun come up together. As it did, the water changed color from the reflected leaves on the trees around the lake.

"The wet alligator also changed colors as she reflected the color of the sky - in this case the bright blue of the early morning sun." He added: "This animal is a resident female. We share the same lake and that morning we shared the sunrise. I took a number of photos as she changed colors from her usual dark brown to black, blue, gray and then brown."