ANSC 420 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Edward Bagnall Poulton, Animal Coloration, Robert Hooke
9 Feb 2013
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Document Summary
Animal coloration has been a topic of interest and research in biology for centuries. In his 1665 book micrographia, robert hooke describes the fantastical (structural, not pigment) colours of the peacock"s feathers. The parts of the feathers of this glorious bird appear, through the microscope, no less gaudy then do the whole feathers; for, as to the naked eye "tis evident that the stem or quill of each. Feather in the tail sends out multitudes of lateral branches, so each of those threads in the. Microscope appears a large long body, consisting of a multitude of bright reflecting parts. Robert hooke according to charles darwin"s 1859 theory of natural selection, features such as coloration evolved by providing individual animals with a reproductive advantage. For example, individuals with slightly better camouflage than others of the same specieswould, on average, leave more offspring.
