COLORATION I I 



be called brightly coloured. The Bats of the genus Kerivoulu 

 ha^'e been compared to large butterflies, and some of the Flying 

 Si[uirrels have strongly-marked contrasts of reddish brown, white, 

 and yellow. The same may l)e said of the spines of certain 

 Porcupines. But we find in the hair no bright blues, greens, and 

 reds such as are common among birds. 



There are certain general facts about the coloration of 

 mammals which require some notice here. Next to the 

 usually sombre hues of these animals the general absence 

 of secondary sexual coloration is noteworthy. In but a few 

 cases among the Lemurs and Bats do we find any marked 

 divergences in hues laetween males and females. Secondary 

 sexual characters in mammals are, it is true, often exhibited 

 by the great length of certain hair-tracts in the male, sucli as 

 the mane of the Lion, the throat- and leg-tufts of the Bar- 

 bary Sheep, and so forth ; but apart from these, the secondary 

 sexual characters of mammals are chiefly shown in size, e.g. the 

 (rorilla, or in the presence of tusks, e.g. various Boars, or of horns, as 

 in the Deer, etc. The coloration of mammals frequently exhibits 

 conspicuous patterns of marking. These are in the form of 

 longitudinal stripes, of cross -stripes, or of spots ; the latter may 

 be " solid " spots, or broken up, as in the Leopard and Jaguar, 

 into groups of smaller spots arranged in a rosette-fashion. We 

 never find in mammals the complicated " eyes " and other mark- 

 ings which occur in so many birds and in other lower A'erte-. 

 brates. It is important to note that in the Mammalia whose 

 sense of sight is quite keen there should be a practical absence 

 of secondary sexual colours. As to the relationship of the various 

 forms of marking that do occur, it seems clear that there has 

 been a progression from a striped or spotted condition to uniform 

 coloration. For we find that many Deer have spotted young ; 

 that the young Tapir of the New World is spotted, while its 

 parents are uniform blackish brown ; the strongly-marked spot- 

 ting of the young Puma contrasts with the uniform brown of the 

 adult ; and the Lion cub, as every one knows, is also spotted, the 

 adult lioness showing considerable traces of the spots. 



The seasonal change in the colours of certain mammals is a 

 subject upon which much has been written. The extreme of this 

 is seen in those creatures, such as the Polar Hare and the Arctic 

 Pox, which become entirely blanched in the winter, recovering 



