Gadagkar, R (2021) Gadagkar, R., 2021. More Fun Than Fun: Why Do Animals Sport Bright Colours? The Wire Science. In:
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Abstract
Nature is beautiful, and it is stunningly beautiful when it is colourful. We derive great pleasure in marvelling at the flowers, fruits, insects, spiders, crabs, fishes, frogs, snakes, birds and fellow mammals, for their bright reds, pinks, blues, greens, purples and oranges, and many more colours for which we scarcely have names. But evolutionary biologists are not content with marvelling at beauty. We want to know why. Why should animals and plants be so brightly and diversely coloured? Why should some be red and others blue or green? Why should some use colours to hide while others to advertise? Why should some colourful animals imitate other colourful animals? Why, indeed, should some lack bright colours and be so dull? Robert MacArthur (1930-1972), a well-known founder of evolutionary ecology, said, “Doing science is not such a barrier to feeling or such a dehumanizing influence as it is often made out. It does not take the beauty from nature.” Answers to the questions raised above cannot but add to our appreciation of colourful nature.
| Item Type: | Editorials/Short Communications |
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| Additional Information: | The copyright of this article belongs to the Authors. |
| Department/Centre: | Division of Biological Sciences > Centre for Ecological Sciences |
| Date Deposited: | 23 Mar 2021 06:24 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Jun 2022 07:11 |
| URI: | https://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/68422 |
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