The scaling of eye size with body mass in birds
We developed a simple method that uses skulls to estimate the diameter, and hence the mass, of birds’ eyes. Allometric analysis demonstrated that, within five orders (parrots, pigeons, petrels, raptors and owls) and across 104 families of flying birds, eye mass is proportional to (body mass)0.68 over a range of body masses (6 g to […]
Interspecific and intraspecific views of color signals in the strawberry poison frog Dendrobates pumilio
Poison frogs in the anuran family Dendrobatidae use bright colors on their bodies to advertise toxicity. The species Dendrobates pumilio Schmidt 1858, the strawberry poison frog, shows extreme polymorphism in color and pattern in Panama. It is known that females of D. pumilio preferentially choose mates of their own color morph. Nevertheless, potential predators must […]
Changes in the visual environment affect colour signal brightness and shoaling behaviour in a freshwater fish
Aquatic organisms are exposed to highly variable light environments, which can affect the efficacy of colour patterns that are used for communication or camouflage. Specifically, dissolved organic matter that is common in turbid freshwater habitats tends to absorb short wavelength light causing a shift towards environments that are rich in longwavelengths (orange/red).We investigatedhowchanges in the […]