CHAPTER IX 



LIVERIES AND THEIR MEANING : THE COLORATION OF 

 YOUNG MAMMALS 



YOUNG mammals, like young birds, often differ conspicuously 

 from their parents in their coloration. But while in the adults 

 this coloration appears to bear some direct relation to the 

 needs of the environment, in young animals it appears, at 

 least in many cases, to be, so to speak, reminiscent ; that is to 

 say, it appears rather to be due to the temporary revival of 

 a livery worn by the adults of earlier generations. Repetitions 

 of such ancestral characters, that is to say, the temporary assump- 

 tion by young animals of characters, which persisted through 

 the lifetime of their ancestors, are common among all groups 

 of the animal kingdom. The young of whalebone whales, for 

 example, have teeth in the jaws which never cut the gums, and 

 are finally absorbed ; the beaks of nestling humming-birds and 

 of young spoonbills are short, and quite unlike those of their 

 parents. 



These ancestral traits are well illustrated by the coloration 

 of young mammals. Young lions, for instance, are conspicu- 

 ously spotted and often inconspicuously striped, while the adult 

 lion, as is well known, is whole -coloured. And from this we 

 may assume that lions have descended from spotted ancestors, 

 which in turn may have descended from striped ancestors. 

 This may be inferred from the fact that the spotted patterns 

 of many animals are derived from the breaking up of stripes. 

 This is seen in the evolution of the patterns which adorn lizards, 

 for example ; and in the similar evolution of the coloration of the 

 down in the nestling stages of certain birds. Thus, all the more 

 primitive or ancient types of birds have striped nestlings. In such 

 a group as that which includes plover tribe and gulls we can trace 

 the steps of this evolution of pattern, 

 VOL. i. 5 



