Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Patterns in Nature


The sensory glands on the side of an Arctic char are used by the fish during its annual spawning migration.


Boa constrictors use their heat-sensitive scales to locate prey.


Bird feathers create a colorful show.


An African elephant's skin can be up to one inch (2.5 centimeters) thick.


A giraffe's spots form irregular patterns.


Intricate rings and dots mark the coat of a jaguar (Panthera onca).


A moth's wings appear iridescent when photographed close-up in the Danum Valley Conservation Area in Sabah, Malaysia.


A map puffer fish's (Arothron mappa) eye appears like coral to casual observers in Indonesia's Tukangbesi Islands.


A close view of a cheetah's wet coat


Black-and-white stripes ripple across the hide of a Grant's zebra.