Zebras and tigers have stripes, cheetahs and leopards have spots, and the ocellated lizard (Timon lepidus) boasts a labyrinthine pattern of black-and-green chains of scales. Now researchers from the ...

Biologists have long been fascinated by the amazing diversity of animal colour patterns. Despite much interest, the underlying evolutionary and developmental mechanisms contributing to their rich ...

In our newly published research in Science Advances, my student Ben Alessio and I propose a potential mechanism explaining how these distinctive patterns form—that could potentially be applied to ...

Biologists have found that a simple interaction between just two genes determines the patterns of fur coloration that camouflage mice against their background, protecting them from many predators. The ...

Color patterns seen in fish and other animals evolved to serve various purposes. Lagunatic Photo/iStock via Getty Images Plus A thought experiment can help visualize the challenge of achieving ...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Scientists at Harvard University are moving closer to answering some age-old questions. How did the leopard get its spots? How did the zebra get its stripes? The answer may be a ...

Scientists are moving closer to answering some age-old questions. How did the leopard get its spots? How did the zebra get its stripes? The answer may be a gene called Agouti, which the scientists ...