Why Animals With Blue Color Are Rare

WHY ANIMALS WITH BLUE COLORS ARE SUPER RARE

take a look at these animals there's a

deer a dolphin a squirrel and a dinosaur

you've already figured out I'm about to

ask you what they all have in common

right

the boring answer is they've all lived

on this planet at a certain point in

time blah blah blah sure what's even

more surprising about their common

features is their coloration

on that note let me tell you about

Abbott Thayer and his amazing theories

on animal coloration

he was a Portrait Painter extraordinaire

but he also had a thing for the colors

of the natural world

he came up with some pretty cool ideas

about how animals can stay hidden from

predators or prey and they're still

relevant today

one of his most famous theories is

called counter shading basically animals

are painted by Nature so that the parts

that get the most light from the sky are

the darkest and vice versa

it's like they're wearing the perfect

outfit to match their environment and

let me tell you this technique is not

just for fashion Savvy animals it's also

used by ships to avoid detection

Thayer and his friend even got a patent

for it

Thayer also came up with the idea of

background blending which is when an

animal or object is painted to match the

colors of its surroundings

think of it as a natural camouflage suit

Thayer didn't stop there though

he also proposed a theory on something

called disruptive or Dazzle camouflage

this is when an object is painted with a

crazy pattern to make it harder to judge

its distance or speed

it's like when you're trying to hit a

pinata that's moving all over the place

and you can't quite get your timing

right

think about it if you're a shark

swimming beneath the surface of the

ocean and you look up you're going to

see the bright sky and the lighter

colored ocean surface

if you're a prey animal swimming on the

surface your lighter belly will blend in

with the bright Sky while your darker

back will blend in with the deeper water

it's not just aquatic animals that use

counter shading to their advantage

land animals like deer and rabbits have

lighter bellies and darker backs which

helps them blend in with the dappled

light of the forest floor

and let's not forget about birds many

birds have counter shading on their

feathers which helps them blend in with

the sky when seen from below and the

ground when seen from above

some creatures out there have a way of

warning others that they're not to be

messed with

yeah it's called aposmatism a fancy word

for using bright colors or markings to

let Predators know that they're toxic or

just downright unappetizing

take the skunk for example

that broad white stripe on its back is

like a neon sign that says don't get too

close or else you'll regret it

and those yellow banded poison dart

frogs they're walking Billboards for

their own poison with their bright and

graphic colors letting everyone know

that they're not to be fooled with

even wasps use the power of bright

colors to signal to potential threats

that they're packing a stick

and you know those cute little ladybugs

the brighter they are the more toxic

they can be

who knew that something so adorable

could be so deadly

it turns out that white yellow red and

black are the most effective warning

colors in the animal kingdom just like

how traffic signs caution drivers these

bright markings are nature's way of

saying watch out buddy

if you ever come across a critter with

some serious bling just remember they're

not trying to be fashionable

but how come some animals have evolved

to use bright colors and others didn't

it's a question that's been baffling

scientists for a long time

thankfully one Theory coming from a team

of researchers at the University of

Arizona has uncovered some interesting

insights into this colorful mystery

[Music]

it turns out that the function of an

animal's vibrant coloring is strongly

linked to the activity patterns of its

evolutionary ancestors

so species that use their bright colors

to attract mates are usually descended

from ancestors that were active during

the day

meanwhile those that use their colors to

ward off Predators usually had ancestors

that were active at night

it seems that animals have evolved to

use their colors in the most

advantageous way possible

now you may be wondering how Vivid

coloration even came to be in the first

place

well it seems that early in their

evolution most species started out

pretty plain and drought but over time

bright colors evolved across many

different lineages because they helped

animals survive and reproduce

but not all bright colors are created

equal

the researchers found that vividly

colored lizards and birds usually use

their coloring as a mating signal to

attract partners

while colorful amphibians and snakes

often wear their colors as a warning

sign for predators

and get this many of these amphibians

and snakes are diurnal now or active

during the day but their ancestors were

actually nocturnal active at night

so there's no clear connection between

warning colors and present day activity

patterns

Mother Nature sure is creative when it

comes to helping animals adapt and

survive in the wild

but there are some creatures out there

that could take the award for the

weirdest animals any day

have you ever stopped to think about

what it would be like if we could see

through all the layers that protect our

internal organs

because that's exactly what has happened

with the glass frog

imagine you're strolling through the

Lush rainforest of Central and South

America and you come across a tiny

little frog perched on a leaf

from above it looks like your average

run-of-the-mill frog but if you flip it

over you'll see all its organs on

display heart intestines and all

you might be wondering why on Earth

these frogs have evolved to be

see-through it turns out that their

super thin translucent skin actually

helps them blend in with their

surroundings too

when light shines on them from above

their silhouette becomes all jumbled up

and difficult for predators to decipher

and let's face it when you're surrounded

by vibrant Greenery a green top coat is

a perfect camouflage

but what about those transparent legs

well they help to blur the outlines of

the Frog's body making it even tougher

for predators to recognize their shape

I for one had no idea Penguins also came

in yellow

one wildlife photographer stumbled upon

a site that left him gobsmacked on a

remote island in the southern Atlantic

Ocean

he captured some amazing images of a

yellow king penguin that had everyone on

the beach flapping with excitement

there were 120 000 Birds on that beach

and this was the only yellow one there

scientists are scratching their heads as

to how this coloration happened

naturally

they think it's a form of lutism which

is basically an animal's inability to

produce the proper pigments for its

natural coloration

but they're not entirely sure all King

Penguins produce small amounts of this

yellow pigment naturally but in this

particular bird it seems to be the only

pigment the animal could produce talk

about standing out from the crowd am I

right

there are some colors though you'll

rarely find in the animal kingdom

According to some poles blue is one of

if not the most popular colors amongst

people

most animals however have a tough time

sporting this shade

some animals get their pigment from the

food they eat like how flamingos turn

pink from eating shrimp or how goldfish

can alter their golden hue based on

their diet

but unfortunately there's no true blue

pigments in plants so animals can't turn

blue through their food

instead they have to get creative for

instance some animals make structures

that change the wavelength of light to

appear blue

the blue morpho butterfly is a great

example of this its wing scales are

shaped in ridges that cause light to

blend in such a way that it reflects

only the blue color

if the scales were shaped differently

the butterfly would lose its beautiful

blue color

that's it for today so hey if you

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