Answer 1:
Thank you for the fascinating question! A
scientist named Charles Darwin explained that
animals are adapted to their environment, that
animals are designed to survive and fit in with
where they live. Sometimes having bright,
noticeable colors help animals survive and
communicate with each other – this is called
signaling.
One famous case is the peacock, which
has that huge and colorful tail. The female
peahens are attracted to the males with the
brightest and most colorful tails – so the peacock
uses its colors to attract mates. This is the case
for many different animals: the males are often
more colorful in an attempt to get attention from
females.
Other animals use their colors as a warning,
which is called aposematism. They want to
attract attention to let other animals know where
they are and that you wouldn’t want to mess with
them. Bees, for example, have those
distinctive black and yellow stripes that can
really get your attention. The bee is using its
colors to let other animals where it is and that
you probably should stay away because it can sting
you. Lots of dangerous animals have warning
coloration, including snakes and even the
white stripes on a skunk!
Something really interesting has come about
because of warning coloration. Because animals
have come to associate these bright colors with
danger and stay away, some non-dangerous animals
have evolved the same colors in an attempt to
mimic how dangerous animals look. In this
way animals can be left alone without actually
being dangerous.
These are just a few of the ways that animals
that use color to attract or to ward off other
animals. So when you see a brightly colored
creature, imagine what the function of that
coloration might be: Is it to attract others?
Is it to avoid predators? Is it really dangerous
or pretending to be?
Thanks again for the wonderful question,
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