File:Colouration in animals and plants (1886) (14590141798).jpg

Identifier: colourationinani00tylo (find matches)
Title: Colouration in animals and plants
Year: 1886 (1880s)
Authors: Tylor, Alfred, 1824-1884 Skertchly, Sydney B. J. (Sydney Barber Josiah), 1850-1927
Subjects: Color of animals Animal behavior Plants
Publisher: London : Printed by Alabaster, Passmore and Sons
Contributing Library: MBLWHOI Library
Digitizing Sponsor: MBLWHOI Library

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arker than the ventral, and even here the under surfaces arethe lightest. Even in cases like the Char, Fig. 1, Plate IX., wherevivid colour is applied to the abdomen, the dorsum is the darker.The dorsum is often marked by a more or less well-defined darkband, as in the mackerel and perch, Fig. 2, Plate IX. There aresometimes parallel bands at right angles to the above, as in theperch and mackerel; and this is a common feature, and apparentlya very old one, as we find it in the young of fishes whose adults arewithout these rib-like marks, such as the trout and pike. It is only necessary to inspect any drawings of fishes to see thattheir colouration is on a definite principle, although rather erratic.Important functional parts, like the gills, fins, and tail, are generallymarked in colour more or less distinctly, as may be seen, for instance,in our common fresh-water fishes, like the roach and perch. Theline of mucus-secreting glands running along the sides is usually a > > © ECO
Text Appearing After Image:
Colouration of Vertebrata. 89 marked by a dark line. These facts point distinctly to structuraldecoration. There are in some fishes, like the John Dory, curious eye-likedark spots, which we cannot refer to a structural origin, though abetter acquaintance with the class might reveal such significance. The Amphibia have not been well studied by us, and we mustleave them with the remark that they seem to bear out the view ofstructural decoration, as is seen in our English newts. Some are,however, modified out of all easy recognition. Reptiles. Among the reptiles, the snakes, Fig. 4, may be selectedfor illustration. Snakes are practically little more than elongatedbackbones, and are peculiar from the absence of limbs. The colour-ing matter does not reside so much in the scales as in the skinbeneath, so that the sloughs do not illustrate the decoration.Hence, we might expect to find here a direct effect of morphologicalemphasis. The ornamentation of snakes is very similar throughout the cl

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