structural color
61. Pigment granules assist hiding: ray-finned fish
"Many fish in the teleost group, such as the minnow, change colour in response to the overall reflectivity of their background. Light reaching their retina from above is compared in the brain to that reflected from the background below. The interp...
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Email62. Protein plates reflect light and ambient color.
"A family of unusual proteins is deposited in flat, structural platelets in reflective tissues of the squid Euprymna scolopes. These proteins, which we have named reflectins, are encoded by at least six genes in three subfamilies and have no repor...
63. Structural composition provides strength in changing conditions: plants
"Plant cells need to be fully hydrated to work properly (except in periods of dormancy, as for example in many seeds). Individual vegetative cells in plants, unlike those in animals, are encased in a cellulose cell wall. The cellulose cell wall ma...
64. mirasol™ display technology
"Qualcomm's mirasol displays bring living color to technology by applying one of nature's most remarkable innovations-the butterfly's wings. These highly developed structures reflect light so that specific wavelengths interfere with each other to ...
65. Sherry
Fossil leaf beetle found after 600,000 years, still has its structural color: http://bit.ly/c9U0xH
66. Skeleton provides support: sponges
"In nature, the [dispersal strut] scheme is commoner but still far from widespread--the clearest example, noted in chapter 19, is the spicular skeleton of sponges, in which tiny rigid elements are laced together by collagen (fig 19.7). And there a...
67. Trusses provide support: Cholla cactus
"Some cacti (such as the cholla), though, have supportive columns of branched and rejoining struts--trusses in the form of hollow cylinders with perforated walls." (Vogel 2003:437-438)
68. Rod-like reinforcements provide strength: plants
"Figure 5: Part of a stem of a robust grass, in cross section. Here mechanical strength of the stem is provided by the vascular bundles set in a matrix of thinner-walled cells, rather like rod reinforcements. Each vascular bundle has an outer shea...
69. Fibers reinforce hydrostatic skeletons: sunflowers
"With few exceptions, nature uses the second arrangement of fibers for her internally pressurized, water-filled cylinders. These structures (often termed 'hydrostatic skeletons' or 'hydroskeletons' as well as 'hydrostats') have helical reinforcing...
70. Cuticle is hard and stiff: jewel beetle
"The arthropod cuticle is a remarkable and versatile biological material commonly composed of chitin and proteins. Lessons can be learned from the way it is adapted to fit its functions. The larval jewel beetle, Pseudotaenia frenchi, demonstrates ...
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