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Re: function of fire salamander colouration

PostPosted: Tue Sep 27, 2016 11:30 am
by Michal Szkudlarek
Ruggero Morimando wrote:I hope someone else will help me... :lol:
But not everything has something to do with mimetism in genetic evolution: sexual selection plays surely a role too, as well, I suppose, random events in Dna molecules and "simmetry" of living organisms... "Why a middle dorsal line?" could have the same meaning as the question "why tails grow always in the center of the dorsal spine?" I turn the question to other forumers with an elegant "I don't know!" :lol:

dorsal line can be indeed a by-product, not an adaptation. it can play role in sexual selection since dorsal line is present in females (and juveniles) only but i do not think that males perceive dorsal line of a famale

Re: function of fire salamander colouration

PostPosted: Tue Sep 27, 2016 11:29 pm
by Berislav Horvatic
Ruggero Morimando wrote: I hope someone else will help me... :lol:

So, folks, do help him, if you know how.

Re: function of fire salamander colouration

PostPosted: Mon Oct 03, 2016 2:29 pm
by Jeroen Speybroeck
Black+yellow are common 'leave me alone' warning colours in the animal kingdom. It doesn't always hold a 'logical' link with the actual level of being poisonous in species, which is comparable in S. atra and S. salamandra, while their colours are not. You could hypothesise that atra has less predators to worry about...? The pigmentation is in any case rather 'switch on/off', as lanzai and atra are not sister species and neither are corsica and salamandra.