Ernst Mayr Lecture 2022 - Nature's Palette: How and Why Color Varies in the Wild

In nature, animals vary tremendously in their color and color pattern. But, why? And, how?



Whether it is the brilliant blue wings of a butterfly, the charismatic stripes of a zebra, or the camouflaging fur of a rodent scurrying in the underbrush, animals display color in vastly different ways. And, color can serve many purposes – to conceal, warn, intimidate or attract.



For the last two decades, Hopi E. Hoekstra (Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology, Harvard University) has been tackling the question of how and why animals vary in color with experiments both in the laboratory and in the field, using as a model what she refers to as charismatic mini-fauna (i. e. mice). But, much of what she has learned in mice can be applied to other mammals, including humans. Here, Hopi E. Hoekstra will discuss the many ways that color is made, used and perceived by animals – and how this diversity testifies to the power, elegance and ingenuity of natural selection.



The Ernst Mayr Lecture is a lecture series in the field of the life sciences sponsored by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin.