BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//talks.cam.ac.uk//v3//EN
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:Europe/London
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:+0000
TZOFFSETTO:+0100
TZNAME:BST
DTSTART:19700329T010000
RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=-1SU
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:+0100
TZOFFSETTO:+0000
TZNAME:GMT
DTSTART:19701025T020000
RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=10;BYDAY=-1SU
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
CATEGORIES:Zoology Departmental Seminar Series
SUMMARY:Iridescence as Camouflage - Karin Kjernsmo\; Unive
 rsity of Bristol\, UK
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20231121T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20231121T170000
UID:TALK205612AThttp://talks.cam.ac.uk
URL:http://talks.cam.ac.uk/talk/index/205612
DESCRIPTION:Iridescence is an enigmatic and striking form of s
 tructural coloration that changes depending on the
  angle of view\, or angle of illumination. It is w
 idespread in the animal kingdom\, and can be admir
 ed in everything from the shimmering\, metallic el
 ytra of beetles\, to the mesmerizing feathers that
  adorn peacocks and hummingbirds. Bright colours a
 re often considered an evolutionary trade-off\; ye
 s\, they may serve an important function as signal
 s in mate choice\, but they might also attract the
  attention of a hungry predator. The ‘father’ of m
 odern camouflage theory\, Abbot Thayer\, proposed 
 a surprising idea about the function of iridescenc
 e: that it could work as a highly effective form o
 f camouflage. Thayer’s idea is completely counter-
 intuitive\, how can colours that are both brillian
 t and changeable contribute to an animal’s conceal
 ment?\n\nIn this talk\, I will present data to sho
 w that biological iridescence\, produced by multil
 ayer cuticular reflectors in real jewel beetle (St
 ernocera aequisignata) wing cases\, and in our UK-
 native Rose chafers (Cetonia aurata) provides effe
 ctive protection against predation by birds\, and 
 that the most likely explanation for this is\, ind
 eed\, camouflage. These studies are the first to p
 rovide empirical evidence for the century-old hypo
 thesis that iridescence can work as a form of camo
 uflage in a natural setting\, providing an adaptiv
 e explanation for why iridescence has evolved inde
 pendently so many times.
LOCATION:Part II Lecture Theatre\, Department of Zoology
CONTACT:Samuel Matchette
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR