A study published in the journal Plos has just demonstrated a more or less unexpected link between the aesthetics of the fish that inhabit the Coral reefsand their danger of extinction: fish considered beautiful would be the least in danger, while those considered ugly appear more in the list of species in danger of extinction. A result ultimately not so surprising, because our relationship to biodiversity depends a lot on the aesthetics we give it, on our perception.
The authors conclude it thus: there are likely large mismatches between potential public support for conservation and the species that need it most”. To obtain these results, the team, led by researchers from the University of Montpellier, first asked the opinion of 13,000 people to evaluate the aesthetic appeal of 481 species of fish living in reefs. They then integrated these results into an algorithm for deep learning, or machine learning, which then generated aesthetic value predictions for 4,400 photographs additional, including 2,417 different species.
The phylogenetic tree of the 2,417 fish targeted by scientists. Aesthetic values are mapped across the entire phylogeny with a color gradient. As an illustration, the researchers have highlighted 20 families with contrasting aesthetic values using gray arcs and show examples of fish for each family. © Langlois, Mouquet and al., Plos
It’s the colored fish that win the change
The results are here: most colorful fishshiny, and with round bodies, are considered more beautiful, are also the ones that appear the least on the red list of endangered species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The researchers also assessed the “link between the aesthetic value of fish and evolutionary history” and then explain that the most beautiful fish are tightly packed into small parts of the phylogenetic tree and ecological trait space. On the other hand, the least attractive fish are the most ecological and evolutionary distinct species and those recognized as endangered. »
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