Kosmoceras

The splitting seed capsules (fruits) of Sterculia tree, showing rows of smooth black seeds.

Deep sea shrimp Gnathophausia ingens. Red-colored creatures are prevalent at certain depths since the color is the first to disappear as we go deeper into the water.

Photo from the gallery of KatieOlds in Flickr.

ichthyologist:

Velvet whalefish (Barbourisia rufa)

Inhabiting depths of down to 2000 m, the velvet whalefish is the sole known member of its family Barbourisiidae. Red light does not penetrate down to those depths, which has resulted in the inability to detect red in most deep sea creatures. The colouration of the fish aids in camouflage against prey and predators. 

Image source

The Hudoq Mask of the Kenyah Dayaks, from Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo)

The color red, black, white and yellow. Of course they were derived from the easy-to-find earthy pigments such as clay, coal, chalk and ochre, but still, it’s amazing for me that these colors often crop up as divine representations, symbols or cosmological concepts. On the contrary, blues and greens are somewhat rare, even though the colors exist in nature in such abundance. The pigments that produce blue and green however, are not.

The Balinese represent the Hindu trimurti with the color red, white and black - each representing Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, although I forget which is which. Two oceans and two continents apart, the Mayans had Chac the god of rains and thunder, which was an embodiment of four separate gods: the Red Chac of East, White North Chac, Black West Chac and Yellow South Chac; while some other cultures view red, white, black and yellow as primary colors of mankind, and are considered sacred.

I can confidently say that all four colors have been overrepresented in artworks crafted and fashioned by virtually all indigenous cultures across the world.

It’s just wonderful.