Birds, butterflies and flowers in the tropics are not more colourful than those at higher latitudes

摘要

Aim The idea that species are generally more colourful at tropical latitudes has held great appeal among biologists since the days of exploration by early naturalists. However, advances in colour quantification and analysis only now allow an objective test of this idea. We provide the first quantitative analysis of the latitudinal gradient in colour on a broad scale using data from both animals and plants, encompassing both human-visible and ultraviolet colours.