| usedbooks | Thanks for being patient with me. I shouldn't miss any updates for a while -- unless the holidays get to me. I have the next three strips planned in detail.
Today's science lesson is about coloration! Cryptic coloring is the most common kind of coloration among terrestrial animals. Cryptic coloring lets animals blend into the environment, which is why so many animals are brown or tan in color. Usually this is accompanied by a pattern or dappling to break up outlines and make it harder for prey/predators to see. Another common trend in color is a lighter underside and darker top. This helps mask shadows or, for climbing or swimming animals, match the underside to the sunlight. An animal's coloring is crucial to survival, which is why color mutations (like melanistic or albino) are rare in wild populations but common among domestic animals, where their uniqueness equates to value, beauty, and therefore survival.
Another kind of coloring is warning colors, which is the complete opposite. Poisonous and sometimes venomous (know the difference!!) animals are often brightly colored. This is so animals who survive an encounter with one will remember and avoid such animals in the future. This kind of coloring has allowed other, non-dangerous, animals to survive with bright colors that mimic the colors of dangerous creatures -- provided the predator encounters one of the dangerous specimens first.
(Btw, if you want to see cool color mutations of wildlife, do an internet search for melanistic or piebald.) -Posted on Nov 23, 2009 |
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| User: ghostrunner | | 5 | | and how pigions when they take off form paterns that screw with preditor vision -Posted on Nov 24, 2009 | | User: usedbooks | | | @Anubis: Study or face the consequences!
@Jonko: Heh. Actually, I was interested in the biology of coloration back when I was in grade school. Since my mom taught biology, I used to flip through text books to look at the pictures.
@Loud_G: Interestingly, poison arrow frogs are toxic in the wild but not in captivity. The poisonous compounds come from their diet. ~_^
@amanda: The viceroy butterfly. ;-) Monarch toxicity comes from their diet of milkweed, btw. Personally, I go for cryptic coloring myself -- but not is a creepy redneck camo-print way.
@Locoma: I guess I could have done that. Just throw tie-dye frog in a pet store or a French restaurant. XD
@Gillespie: ^_^
@LanceDanger: NatGeo has amazing photography! When I was a kid, my dream was to become a photographer for that magazine. -Posted on Nov 23, 2009 | | User: LanceDanger | | 5 | | Lol this reminds me of an issue of National Geographics I have, a special of animals XD There's this GREAT pic of a bat stopping in mid-snatch, he was about to claw a poisonous little frog, but realized it just in time XD -Posted on Nov 23, 2009 | | User: Gillespie | | 5 | | Best science class of my life! -Posted on Nov 23, 2009 | | User: Locoma | | 5 | :3
that's one really cool looking frog. I was expecting a "humans ruined this by doing..." punchline at the end of your comment, I guess we got off the hook this time ^_^ -Posted on Nov 23, 2009 | | User: amanda | | 5 | Haha, I love panel 2 - happy frogs! There is some butterfly - I think it's the mock monarch? - has a similar monarch butterfly pattern because apparently the monarch is poisonous to birds. We learned about it in third grade, and I think that was the first time I'd heard about this particular topic ^.^
I like to think of my tendency to wear bright colors a warning ^.^ -Posted on Nov 23, 2009 | | User: Loud_G | | 5 | hehe, this is a cute one.
I immediate thought of the poison arrow toads. They are pretty, but you don't want to mess with them :) -Posted on Nov 23, 2009 | | User: Jonko | | 5 | wow, your park jobs have made you an expert at this! (although you probably were one before too).
Sucks for tie-dye frog though, he still is the one that gets killed! -Posted on Nov 23, 2009 | | User: Anubis | | 5 | | Birdy never learned about danger colours in foggies -Posted on Nov 23, 2009 |
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