ABSTRACT
Coloration and the pattern of coloration of animals play a central role in behavior — even among species in which vision is not the dominant sense. For example, an animal’s color or pattern is often related to its display movements (Lorenz 1941, Tinbergen 1952, Blest 1957, Cullen 1957, Hailman 1977a, 1977b); cryptic coloration often goes hand in hand with cryptic behavior (Ruiter 1952, 1956, Cott 1957, Hailman 1977b); and coloration that absorbs solar energy may show a close relation with thermoregulatory behavior (Ohmart and Lasiewski 1970, Burtt 1973, Storer 1974). Despite these pervasive correlations between behavior and coloration, we understand few of the principles that predict the specific pattern or color that best serves a particular function in conjunction with behavior. This volume brings together diverse experts and disparate facts as a step toward understanding the behavioral significance of animal coloration. Hypotheses that account for the coloration of animals fall into three major categories: (1) physiological functions of pigmentation; (2) coloration that affects the animal’s visibility to other animals, including conspecifics; and (3) coloration that affects the animal’s own vision. Predicative hypotheses in all three categories are outlined and data relevant to these hypotheses are presented in the chapters, discussions, questions, and answers that follow.
