Connochaetes gnou photo © Kieth Offord
Illuminating the darkest of wildebeests
The black wildebeest is really medium brown if described by its pigmentation. Its blackness at a distance is illusory, caused by an optical effect which deserves a new antonym to ‘sheen’ or ‘gloss’, e.g. ‘anti-sheen’ or ‘gloom’. This is why the species looks darker through telescopic lenses than when photographed close-up.
Robin and the Honey Badger, 15 March 2016
Photographs:
Side view of Connochaetes gnou
Posterior view of Connochaetes gnou
