Some plants have evolved fruits whose colors practically shout “Eat me!” to certain animals. Recently, researchers found that plants in two regions in Africa look differently based on how fruit eaters in their area see the world.
In Uganda, monkeys and apes are the primary fruit eaters. Because they have color vision similar to that of people, many plants there evolved red fruits that stand out against green leaves. In Madagascar, lemurs are the primary fruit eaters. Because they can’t distinguish between red and green, plants there produce yellow fruits that these animals can more easily see.
“Plants signal things to animals,” says Kim Valenta, an anthropologist at Duke University in North Carolina who worked on the study. In return for the treat, animals disperse the fruits’ seeds, which helps the plants reproduce.