Skillful Videoscript
Level 1
script: Spots and stripes
Throughout the animal kingdom, you can find a variety of colors and patterns
in animals’ skin and fur. Take a leopard for example. Famous for its spots, this
animal is found mostly in Africa but the coats of leopards vary in different
regions. In East Africa, leopard spots are circular, but in southern Africa and
Asia they’re more similar to a square. The purpose of the spots is to help a
leopard hide efficiently in vegetation so its prey can’t see it. Unfortunately,
hunters kill leopards for their coats, which means the leopard population is
gradually dying out.
It’s interesting that a giraffe has only two enemies: lions, which mostly attack
baby giraffes, and crocodiles, which attack giraffes when they’re drinking. This
means giraffes don’t really need to hide, but they still have brown patches
that help them look like part of the woodlands of Africa. In fact, it’s not
uncommon for a giraffe to be mistaken for a dead tree.
Zebras have long stripes so they can hide in the long grass of Africa to avoid
their main enemy—the lion. It seems strange that a zebra’s stripes are black
when the grass is green, but it works because lions don’t see color well. When
zebras are in large groups, their stripes make it difficult for lions to see each
zebra individually.
Not all animals have patterns to help them hide. Some animals use their
patterns to attract a mate. Male peacocks have bright blue and green feathers
with an eye pattern while the female has dull brown and gray feathers. When
the male wants to attract a female, he opens his tail, spreading his feathers up
to a meter and a half. In the past, scientists believed the female peahen chose
the peacock with the most eyes in his tail, but there’s recent evidence this isn’t
true. It’s possible that the eye pattern is used to frighten off other peacocks that
want the same female.
Some animals use patterns to show their feelings. The Australian blue-ringed
octopus is yellow, with horizontal dark brown stripes that help it hide under
rocks. But when it’s angry or afraid, 50 to 60 electric blue rings appear around
its body.
Many people assume a chameleon changes color so it can hide. But in fact it
has more in common with the octopus and peacock. The main reasons are
to show it’s angry or afraid, or to frighten off other chameleons when it is
looking for a mate.
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Copyright © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2016.
