Tropical Birds Are Not More Colorful, Prompting Evolutionary Speculation

It's gratifying to see stereotypes shattered by hard data, even if the stereotype is merely about bird coloration. We think of tropical birds as lushly colorful. Two scientists, Nicholas R. Friedman and Vladimr Reme, tested this out on Australian birds. They found it was not true, or at least not confirmed.

Tropical regions support a greater diversity of species, including more colorful birds, but, species for species, arid areas actually have the "fancier" colored birds. Now notice where t...