Warning Sign You’ll need to dive in a diff erent place to find


the next colorful animal. Try the warm waters off the Philippine islands. T is time, you’re looking for a fish that uses color as a warning. You spot it right away hidden in the corals.


T e mandarinfish has many colors. Its body is blue or green. It’s covered in wavy orange lines. Its tail is red with blue edging. Its patterns are full of color. T e reef is full of fish today. Suddenly, a


scorpionfish swims by. T is fish sucks little fish into its mouth like a vacuum cleaner. Most of the smaller fish scatter. Not the mandarinfish. It swims along, nibbling on tiny sand fleas. T e scorpionfish is a predator, but it will not


attack the mandarinfish. It knows something about the colors it sees. T ey are warning colors. Warning colors tell predators that this fish tastes bad. In fact, the mandarinfish makes a poisonous slime on its skin. If that’s not enough, it also smells bad to other fish. Predators stay away.


Colorful Mystery We know how many animals use color. T ey


use it to blend in or to stand out. T ey use it to send messages or to scare away predators. In West Africa, you’ll find a colorful animal that remains a mystery. It’s a mandrill. Mandrills are primates. T ey may be the


most colorful primates on the planet. A male mandrill’s face looks like a painted mask. His long nose and lips are bright red. Long, blue ridges run down the sides of his nose. His whiskers are white. He has a golden beard. No one really knows why mandrills are


so colorful. Yet it’s clear that color plays an important role in daily life. Mandrills live in groups called troops. A strong male leads the troops. Oſt en, he is the most colorful.


Color Matters Scientists have long wondered what color


means to mandrills. T ere are many possible explanations. Perhaps the most colorful mandrill is also the easiest for other mandrills to recognize. Mandrills spend much of their time on the


This mandarinfi sh’s colors are a warning to predators.


ground. T e most colorful face may be the most clearly seen in the overgrown forest. Another explanation is that the most


colorful mandrill is the toughest. Like the mandarinfish, the mandrill’s colors may be a warning to other animals. Researchers have a lot of


work ahead of them. Watching mandrills’ behavior may help unlock the mystery. Yet mandrills are shy animals. T ey can be difficult to study. Mandrill color


remains a mystery for now. Yet color is not a mystery for many other animals. T ey use their colors to


survive. 8


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