1. The thermal melanism hypothesis (TMH) predicts that dark (low skin reflectance)
individuals are at an advantage in cool climates as they heat faster and reach higher …

The hypothesis that low skin reflectance (melanism) provides an advantage for
thermoregulation under cold conditions has received mixed support in ectothermic …

Whether melanism plays a significant role in thermoregulation has been a persistent
question in studies of thermal biology of ectotherms. This review provides a synthesis of the …

The color-mediated thermoregulation hypothesis predicts that dark body color (low
reflectance) allows organisms to gain heat more efficiently than does pale coloration (high …

Altitudinal gradients offer a good opportunity to study organisms' adaptations to clinal
environmental variables. Regarding altitude, the most influential variables on organisms are …

Animal coloration has multiple functions including thermoregulation, camouflage, and social
signaling, and the requirements of each function may sometimes conflict. Many terrestrial …

Background Colour signals are widely used in intraspecific communication and often linked
to individual fitness. The development of some pigment-based (eg carotenoids) colours is …

Many terrestrial ectotherms are capable of rapid colour change, yet it is unclear how these
animals accommodate the multiple functions of colour, particularly camouflage …

Background The thermal benefits of melanism in ectothermic animals are widely recognized,
but relatively little is known about population differentiation in the degree of melanism along …

Ectothermic species are particularly sensitive to changes in temperature and may adapt to
changes in thermal environments through evolutionary shifts in thermal physiology or …