I’m sure you’ve seen pictures of many colorful animals over the years. Most of them were probably species that resided in a rainforest somewhere. This does seem to be a common place to located animals covered with vibrant hues. Here are the top 7 colorful animals that I have come across. Some of them you’ve probably heard of, but I hope at least a few are new to you. It’s hard to believe that these are actual animals and not a made up character from a children’s book.
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7. Rainbow Lorikeet
This medium-sized bird lives in Australia. The coloration of the Rainbow Lorikeet varies from bird to bird, but for the most part is as follows; Blue head, yellow and green bands on the back of the head, orange chest, yellow shoulders, green wings and back, blue belly, and a tail that is green on top with bits of yellow mixed with green on the underside. They are a subspecies of parrot and known for being very sociable.
6. Emerald Tree Boa
While most reptiles and amphibians with brightly colored skin are highly poisonous, this boa isn’t. There are white lightning bolts at even intervals on the back of this bright green boa. The green scales are almost neon and look as if they’d glow in the dark. The neon hue signifies the onset of adulthood, since the juvenile Emerald Tree boas range between light orange and brick red. This species is found in the rainforests of South America.
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5. Goldenrod Crab Spider
The females of this species of spider can grow to be around half an inch in diameter, not including their legs. The males are half this size, but just as brilliantly colored. The light, bright yellow color of this spider covers the entire body and legs. There are two orange streaks that run nearly the entire length of the abdomen. These little spiders are able to change from yellow to white and vice versus. It takes between 10 and 25 days for the spider to go from white to yellow and only six days to change from yellow to white. The color of their body will depend on if they are on a white or yellow flower.
4. Mandarin Fish
These little fish are also known as mandarin dragonets or mandarin gobies and come from the coral reefs in the Pacific. The patterns on these fish are amazing and consist of dark lines filled with contrasting neon colors. Some of the color combinations are turquoise and orange, indigo and yellow, and some have these colors as well as others included too. Even though these little guys would look fantastic in an aquarium with a black light, they are hard to keep as pets. Their diet is very specific and they never adapt to life in an aquarium.
3. Strawberry Poison Frog
This poison dart frog comes from Central America and is one of many species of poisonous frogs found in tropical regions of the world. The Strawberry Poison frog is capable of having a range of 15 to 30 color morphs. Although this tiny frog is from the poison dart family, it is harmless when it isn’t fed beetles or ants. Due to its ability to be non-toxic, these brightly colored frogs are popular as pets.
2. Blue Morpho Butterfly
There are more than 80 species of butterfly included in the genus Morpho. This blue variety has wings that are an iridescent blue framed with black. The wings on a Morpho can range between 3 to 8 inches across. The large wings are covered with little scales that reflect most of the light that shines on them, giving them an iridescent quality. These beautiful creatures only live 137 days, from egg to death.
1. Sea Slug
There are so many color variations in the sea slug group that I can’t name one to be more colorful than another. The Chromodoris bullock is a gorgeous purple with orange fringes on the gills. The Nembrotha is bright blue on the backside, a lighter blue on the underside and has vermilion filaments on the front it its head. I could go on and on with the color descriptions of each, but there are way too many. Sea slugs are some of the most colorful animals I’ve ever come across.
I know there are tons more choices for the top 7 colorful animals, but these are the ones I decided to add to my list. I’m sure there are species that are still waiting to be discovered. What is the most colorful animal that you can think of?
Top Photo Credit: raymonddy