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 ...

Add Popular Science (opens in a new tab) More information Adding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results.

Patterns on animal skin, such as zebra stripes and poison frog color patches, serve various biological functions, including temperature regulation, camouflage and warning signals. The colors making up ...

Through their studies of bones, fossils, and geology, paleontologists have uncovered the prehistoric worlds of Earth's past. We watch movies and TV shows of computer generated versions of long-extinct ...

A team of researchers has discovered new insights into the evolution of color patterns in frogs and toads -- collectively known as anurans. Animal color patterns can help them camouflage with their ...

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 vivid colors and designs animals use to interact with their environments have awed and inspired since before people learned to draw on the cave wall. But how different creatures in the animal ...

Scientists have shown for the first time that there is a strong correlation between the complex patterns on male darters and their highly-variable environments. The findings support and expand upon ...

In many animals, skin coloration and its patterns play a crucial role in camouflage, communication, or thermoregulation. In the corn snake, some morphs display red, yellow, or pink blotches, and their ...

Scientists studying ancient fossils of a small feathered dinosaur have discovered that it had a bandit’s mask as well as a striped tail, rather like today’s raccoons. The eye-catching plumage of ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. GrrlScientist writes about evolution, ecology, behavior and health. The giant panda's black and white markings are unique in the ...