Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 20, 2026
09:03
Manipulation of Color Patterns in Jumping Spiders for Use in Behavioral Experiments
Published on: May 21, 2019
10.0K
The embryonic origin of periodic color patterns
Nicolas Haupaix1, Marie Manceau1
1Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Biology, CNRS UMR7040, INSERM U1050, Collège de France and Paris Sciences et Lettres University, France.
Developmental Biology
|August 23, 2019
Summary
Vertebrate coat patterns like spots and stripes are explained by a combination of developmental instructions and self-organization. Early cues establish orientation, while later processes refine pattern details and variation.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Biology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Genetics
Background:
- Periodic color patterns (spots, stripes) in vertebrates are key models for studying pattern formation.
- Two main theories exist: instructional signaling (pre-programmed information) and self-organization (spontaneous tissue acquisition).
Purpose of the Study:
- To review recent empirical evidence supporting both instructional signaling and self-organization in vertebrate pattern formation.
- To synthesize findings from studies on natural populations of mammals, birds, and fish.
Main Methods:
- Review of recent empirical evidence from molecular techniques and functional approaches.
- Analysis of studies on natural vertebrate populations with diverse periodic patterns.
Main Results:
- Evidence supports a combined role for instructional signaling and self-organization in pattern development.
- Early developmental landmarks provide foundational orientation and reproducibility.
- Later self-organizing processes shape periodicity and natural variation in patterns.
Conclusions:
- Vertebrate pattern formation is a complex interplay of instruction and self-organization.
- This dual mechanism explains both conserved features and species-specific variations in coat patterns.
Related Concept Videos
03:25The Periodic Table
108.7K
As early chemists discovered more elements, they realized that various elements could be grouped by their similar chemical behaviors. One such grouping includes lithium (Li), sodium (Na), and potassium (K). All of these elements are shiny, conduct heat and electricity well, and have similar chemical properties. A second grouping includes calcium (Ca), strontium (Sr), and barium (Ba), which also are shiny, good conductors of heat and electricity, and have chemical properties in common. However,...
108.7K
00:57The Periodic Table and Organismal Elements
200.4K
Overview
200.4K
01:27The Periodic Table and Organismal Elements
22.3K
Elements are the smallest units of matter that cannot be broken down further by chemical processes. There are 118 known elements, but not all of these are naturally occurring, and only a few of them are essential for life. Living matter is composed primarily of carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen, with smaller amounts of other elements like calcium, phosphorus, potassium, and sulfur. Other elements are also necessary for life but only in trace amounts.
Periodic Table Provides Information...
Periodic Table Provides Information...
22.3K
04:00Periodic Classification of the Elements
58.7K
The periodic table arranges atoms based on increasing atomic number so that elements with the same chemical properties recur periodically. When their electron configurations are added to the table, a periodic recurrence of similar electron configurations in the outer shells of these elements is observed. Because they are in the outer shells of an atom, valence electrons play the most important role in chemical reactions. The outer electrons have the highest energy of the electrons in an atom...
58.7K
03:02Colors and Magnetism
14.0K
Color in Coordination Complexes
When atoms or molecules absorb light at the proper frequency, their electrons are excited to higher-energy orbitals. For many main group atoms and molecules, the absorbed photons are in the ultraviolet range of the electromagnetic spectrum, which cannot be detected by the human eye. For coordination compounds, the energy difference between the d orbitals often allows photons in the visible range to be absorbed and emitted, which is seen as colors by the human...
When atoms or molecules absorb light at the proper frequency, their electrons are excited to higher-energy orbitals. For many main group atoms and molecules, the absorbed photons are in the ultraviolet range of the electromagnetic spectrum, which cannot be detected by the human eye. For coordination compounds, the energy difference between the d orbitals often allows photons in the visible range to be absorbed and emitted, which is seen as colors by the human...
14.0K
01:24Color Vision
1.4K
Color perception begins in the retina, the light-sensitive layer at the back of the eye. Two main theories explain how colors are seen: the trichromatic theory and the opponent-process theory. The trichromatic theory, proposed by Thomas Young in 1802 and extended by Hermann von Helmholtz in 1852, suggests that color vision is based on three types of cone receptors in the retina. These cones are sensitive to different but overlapping ranges of wavelengths corresponding to red, blue, and green.
1.4K