Why Are There 'Black and White' Animals?

    It's nothing new about me, but I actually have a certain devotion towards animals with black and white as their main color. The contrast of their color with nature brings so much more attractiveness and interest in them. This is because most animals have matching or related colors to nature (for example green, brown, orange, grey, etc) so that they can either blend in or camouflage.

But what about these black and white animals? What is the purpose of their contradicting color? I have the explanation to my top 5 black and white animals!

5. Skunks

www.ask.com

Let them blow your hate comments away with their strong, offensive odor! Skunks are notorious for their anal scent glands which acts as a defensive weapon against the predators. 
The odor is strong enough to prevent bears and other potential attackers from approaching them.
This extremely functional defense mechanism can be sprayed to as far as 3 meters and can be smelled from a mile (1.5 km) away by a human nose.
Their black and white fur is a warning coloration to make them memorable to the predators so that they won't need to waste their limited amount of liquid.


4. Zebras

www.techtimes.com

 A lot of theories and hypotheses have been proposed to justify their unique black and white striped pattern. One of them is the vertical striping which helps to hide in the grass and disrupts their outlines. This is also another way of camouflaging in the desert while they're consuming grasses. Another theory mentioned it as a way to confuse predators by motion dazzle. For example, a group of zebras standing or moving together creates a large mass of flickering stripes or simply, illusions which makes it difficult for the predator to pick a target. 
 
Another interesting reason includes the ability to attract fewer flies. This advantage applies on tsetse flies and also horseflies. Flies are commonly attracted to linearly polarized light and the black and white stripes of zebras are able to disrupt the pattern.

3. White Tigers

www.huffingtonpost.com

White Tigers are a variant of Bengal Tigers which populates mostly in India. The white fur is because of the lack of the pigment pheomelanin which gives the Bengal Tigers their orange fur. Since tigers are on top of the food chain, camouflaging is not a priority.

www.art.com

 This endangered animal lives mostly in captivity; a lot of them are kept in Indian zoos and centers. White Tiger grows larger and heavier than Bengal tigers where their biggest and heaviest record is 3 meters and 230kg respectively.

Check out "How to Differentiate Patterns of Big Cats" !

    
2. Pandas

www.sandiegozoo.org

Pandas are such adorable cupcakes! They were discovered very recently (1869) and has been regarded as a unique and bizarre creature. This bear is native to the South Central China and has been classified as endangered. 

99% of the time, their main diet is bamboos and only bamboos. But they occasionally eat other grasses, wild tubers and even meats of birds, rodents and carrion. The reason behind their black and white coloration is still unknown but speculations were made; their bold coloring provides effective camouflage in their shade-dappled snowy and rocky environment. Fair enough.


1. Orcas

www.seatoskyexpeditions.com

Also known as the Killer Whale, this dolphin-but-whale-ish creature attracted my attention the most. Orcas appeared 11 million years ago which gained a lot of attention because of it's black and white color.  The 'disruptive coloration' makes a pattern which obscures the outline of it's body. This function works the same as the zebras' vertical pattern on their body. Another explanation for their coloration is camouflaging.  Their dark color on top blends in with the dark ocean depths when you view it on top. And similar to that, the white belly camouflages to the brighter sea surface when viewed from below. 

chickensmoothie.com

The white oval spots at each side of the head also works as a camouflaging purpose. First of all it enhances their actual eyes and helps them appear more powerful than they actually are. Secondly, the white spots works as false eyes where it protects the real eyes in case of attacks.








Check out "10 Most Highly Intelligent Animals" !

Other honorable mentions includes penguins, lemurs and tapirs (I LOVE TAPIRS)!

So the conclusion of their odd coloration is actually the same with other animals of natural colors. It's mostly camouflaging or bending in to their habitat and environment; only with a different reasoning.

Thanks for reading!