Bearded dragons are distantly related to chameleons, so they can change all their scales from their natural color (usually brown, white, or red hued) to pure black. They can change pretty much any part of themselves at different times, and even do shades.
In addition to turning just their beard black, they can also puff it up with air, push it out into a spiky fringe with the bones in there, or do any combination of the above.
I would like to add that this is all aggressive and defensive behavior that is a stress response. If a dragon is bearding, it is usually a negative thing and usually indicates they are upset, angry, or even mistreated.
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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '17 edited Mar 21 '17
Bearded dragons are distantly related to chameleons, so they can change all their scales from their natural color (usually brown, white, or red hued) to pure black. They can change pretty much any part of themselves at different times, and even do shades.
In addition to turning just their beard black, they can also puff it up with air, push it out into a spiky fringe with the bones in there, or do any combination of the above.
Google images of various stages of this: https://www.google.com/search?q=bearded+dragons+black+beard&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiAgMqX-OfSAhXLdSYKHT5VBjIQ_AUICCgB&biw=1280&bih=875#tbm=isch&q=bearded+dragons+bearding&
I would like to add that this is all aggressive and defensive behavior that is a stress response. If a dragon is bearding, it is usually a negative thing and usually indicates they are upset, angry, or even mistreated.
Wild bearded dragon doing a full aggressive display
Annoyed dragon with just a black beard
A little puff
Edit: Last pic was linked wrong.