How Plants Use Color to Tell Animals Their Fruit Is Good To Eat

D-brief
By Roni Dengler
Sep 26, 2018 9:45 PMMay 21, 2019 5:43 PM
fruit color evolution
Fruits evolved different colors based on the visual abilities of nearby animals. (Credit: leonori/shutterstock)

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Fruits come in a glorious rainbow of colors. Raspberries, kumquats, lemons, avocados, blueberries, figs; the colorful array rivals a 96-pack of Crayola crayons. But scientists have long debated whether fruits evolved their vibrant pigments to entice animals to eat them and spread their seeds. After all, some fruit eating — or frugivorous — seed-dispersers are color blind. Now, researchers show fruit color evolved in response to the visual abilities of local fruit-feasting animals.

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