If you ask people what their favorite color is, a large part will respond that it is blue. From the lightest to the darkest, its tones are practically infinite and yet, although it is what we see in the sky and in the water, it is a scarce color in the vegetable world and especially rare in the animal. In Supercurioso we saw Why are there no blue foods? | They are very difficult to find! and this time we wanted to get closer to 10 Beautiful Blue Animals that will amaze you .
The reason that we find so few blue animals It has to do with the range of pigments that produce coloration in animals and that is relatively short. Reds and oranges are fruits of carotenoids, black and brown pigments have their origin in eumelanins and yellow is produced through pteridine compounds. Plants that can produce blue pigments do so through anthocyanins, but animals do not produce blue pigments and when we see them that color is as a result of some curious effects such as selective reflection or iridescence.
10 Blue Animals that will amaze you
1. The Blue Iguana of Grand Cayman. This incredible reptile that seems to come from a prehistoric movie was in critical danger of extinction just a decade ago. At present it is still in danger and the authorities of Grand Cayman , only place that is endemic, try to reach a thousand copies.
2. Blue heron. Between the blue animals The Blue Heron is one of the largest. It measures between 55 and 60 cm. high and lives in the American continent. It can be found in both fresh and salt water and, unlike other herons, likes to live in a group. The young specimens are white, but as they mature and enter the reproductive age they acquire the characteristic gray-blue tone in the plumage. The head and neck are purple with long blue feathers. Its legs are dark blue.
3. Octopus with blue rings . This octopus, which we already talked about in Supercurioso in the post: The poisonous octopus with blue rings , usually does not measure more than 20 cm. In your body you can count, depending on the species, more than 60 blue rings. Its poison is mortal to the human being. They live in the Pacific Ocean between Japan and Australia.
Four. Bee TO sumptuous ugochloropsis. It is a kind of sweaty or sudorific bee belonging to the Halictidae family. They are called sudorific because they seem to be attracted by perspiration. The sumptuous is metallic blue, but in this family there are species that are partially green or red. They only sting if they are bothered.
5. Medusa Luna. Scientifically it is called Aurelia Aurita and you can find it in waters around the world except in the cold waters of the poles. They are used for human consumption. They are little poisonous and only cause a slight irritation when touching you.
6. Poisonous frog Blue . This small frog is scientifically known as dendrobates tinctorius azureus. It is extremely poisonous but is one of the most striking blue animals. If you want to know more about it, you can find it here: Dendrobates tinctorius, the dangerous blue frog .
7. Blue tarantula. This spectacular spider lives in a forest of just over 100 km. square in the enigmatic India . Its sting is poisonous but not deadly. Its blue color has its origin in nanocrystals that only reflect the wavelength of incoming light. If you want to know more curiosities about it, you can find them at: Poecilotheria metallica, the amazing and beautiful blue tarantula .
8. Blue Morpho Butterfly . They usually live in Central and South America and can measure up to 7.5 cm. The naturalists explain that it is not really blue, but that this tonality is the product of the reflection of microscopic light on the small scales of its wings.
9. Glaucus Atlánticus, Known as blue dragon is a species of nudibranch gastropod. You can find it in seas around the world as long as its waters are warm or tropical. It measures between 3 and 4 cm. long and presents different shades of blue in his body. The dorsal area is silvery blue, the belly blue pale and the legs can see dark blue stripes.
10. Peacock or Peacock with blue chest It is originally from South Asia and it has been said that it was introduced into Europe by Alexander the Great. The chest of the males is cobalt blue and its head is crowned by a plume of feathers that have the tips of a blue-green tone.
We hope you have been surprised by these beautiful and rare blue animals. Do you know any more? Compose it with us and we can expand this list. If you want to know more about curious animals, we invite you to read:
- 20 Real Hybrid Animals | Cebrasno, Grolar, Ligre ...
- The Panda Ant | 15 Curiosities of a very rare animal
- The Purple Snail | 10 Curiosities of this incredible color animal
Images: Lhb1239 , Emmett.Hume , USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab , Benson Kua , Sylke Rohrlach , The Photographer , Aka