07 August 2012

Spotted coats as insect repellant

Appaloosa horse in pastels by Riley
 
Dalmatian dog photo by Riley

What an interesting concept. Found this on the Smithsonian blog
Animals come with a wide variety of spots, colors, stripes and patterns. For each of these adaptations, there is certainly a reason, right? Maybe it’s for camouflage, or maybe they just want to look sexy for their friends.

Zen Faulkes, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Texan-Pan American, highlights a new idea for spots’ apparent purpose: bug repellant. In cows, at least, a mottled coat can trick horseflies into pestering someone else, says Faulkes says Faulkes.
(Read more at the links below.)

Read more here and here The “Cow Culture” of Switzerland’s Berner Oberland

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