--- Terry Blanton wrote: > > That interplay of form and time might also point to why *iridescence* is a necessary step along the way. > Yes, but Boyle explained this long ago as the result of constructive interference.
Yes. Of course that is true and the original purpose of iridescence could have been solely and totaly related to mating, or whatever. But what becomes interesting here is not the "original" purpose of that particular trait, but a wholly unintended purpose that only millions of years later is found to be useful. There is a name for this evolutionary process of the unintended eventually becoming the necessary, but I can't remember it now (emergent property??)... but this is all very intriguing - even when it turns out to be a "wild goose chase" or some other "bird brained" waste of bandwidth... Jones
