The Color of Animals and Their Toxicity or Camouflage

The coloration of an organism is often correlated to its ability to hide or advertise. However, we can correlate it to the organism’s level of toxicity. We see the relationship between colors and toxicity in many different organisms. The relationship is shown in different classes of vertebrates like the reptiles, amphibian and mammals.

The reptiles show a very wide variety of animals that show either crypsis or aposematism. The Bothriechis schlegelii (Eyelash pit viper) is an example of a snake that is highly toxic. The snake’s venom (poison) is being injected into its prey to immobilize it quickly. The B.schlegelii has a wide variety of colors including yellow, green, brown and even pink. Its coloration has no specific relation to advertising its toxicity form other predators or hiding, however, it is used for hunting (Sinnett 2011). The Anolis carolinensis is a species of a non-toxic reptile, yet it shows change in coloration. The change in coloration can be stimulated by various factors such as excitement, temperature, lighting and shade on the background behind the animal. The ability to change colors is due to 3 layers of pigmented cells (chromatophores) providing 3 colors, blue, yellow and brown. The A.carolinensis can change its color by mixing the 3 types of chromatophores on the epidermis layer. By changing the outer more layer of its skin the A.carolinensis changes the visible light its skin absorbs or reflects. Even though it has only a few variations in color (green- brown) it uses these variations to camouflage itself in it’s own habitat (Losos 2012). These animals are only two species of a wide class of reptiles. Many members of this class show wide varieties of camouflages as means of protection. Others use colora...

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...n in the examples above that some animals prefer to build a toxic chemical and to advertise it to their surroundings for protection, while others rather not do so. Other animals rather build the ability to blend in the surrounding as a protection key in different ways. Some blending mechanisms result in changing of coloration of having a color similar to your native habitat in exchange for toxicity. On the other hand animals use the ability to produce poison or the ability to blend in to hunt as well. The B.schlegelii uses its poison to hunt and immobilize its prey. Yet it uses bright colors to advertise itself from other potential predators. Furthermore, there are animals that use hiding abilities to hunt. Overall, we see different examples in 3 different related classes, the reptiles, amphibians and mammals of usage of coloration and it relationship with toxicity.