In our newly published research in Science Advances, my student Ben Alessio and I propose a potential mechanism explaining how these distinctive patterns form—that could potentially be applied to ...

Color change in animals is a response shaped by evolution. Each species has developed its own method and reason for this ability, like an overreliance on light or temperature cues, or a physiological ...

Mantis shrimp appear in a variety of colors, from shades of browns to bright neon colors, serving as both a warning to predators and attraction to mates. (Roy L. Caldwell/UC Berkeley-NSF photo) Study ...

Why do leopards have spots and zebras have stripes? Many biologists have tried to answer these questions and have provided interesting hypotheses, including camouflage, thermoregulation, and insect ...

The zebrafish, a small fresh water fish, owes its name to a striking pattern of blue stripes alternating with golden stripes. Three major pigment cell types, black cells, reflective silvery cells, and ...

Animals are living color. Wasps buzz with painted warnings. Birds shimmer their iridescent desires. Fish hide from predators with body colors that dapple like light across a rippling pond. And all ...

The colors and patterns of black swallowtails reveal the diversity of evolutionary dynamics acting on the sexes and the various life-history stages Six species of swallowtail butterflies occur locally ...

The poison dart frog has plenty of enemies in the wild, from birds and bats, to snakes and fish. It has many ways of protecting itself: its poison ooze, its speed. But equally as effective are its ...

A shiny is a very rare Pokémon that comes in a different color than usual. It may be a fictional concept, but nature has no shortage of similar surprises. Animals, plants, food, and other unexpected ...