Wild Colors

Hoffmann's two-toed sloth
(Choloepus hoffmanni)

The North American mottled sand grasshopper (Spharagemon collare) hides from predators by blending into the sand dunes it calls home.

Chilean flamingo (Phoenicopterus chilense)

Self-portraits
The uses of color are myriad, as are the origins. Some species derive color from diet. The Chilean flamingos at the zoo (at right) are pink due to the beta carotene in their diet of shrimp and shellfish.

“Feathers are made of the vitamins that the body consumes,” Megan Ross says. “So food quality affects feather coloration.” For others, color grows on them. Sloths (left) develop coats of algae, which help them blend into green rain forests.

Others “paint” themselves. African elephants and black rhinoceroses cover themselves in dirt or clay as a method to cool off. An elephant might resemble a chocolaty mud puddle, while a black rhino’s gray hide will turn red after a clay bath.

Confusing? Sometimes that’s the point. Other times the colors of nature can be comely, concealing, communicative or downright cool.