Aescorvo t1_itbqgdh wrote on October 22, 2022 at 12:48 PM

Another aspect not mentioned yet: As a poisonous species, you outnumber the predators. There will be enough of you to reproduce even while some are being eaten (and taking their predators with them). So camouflage isn’t part of your survival strategy as a species. You’re then free to use colors for other things such as mating markers.

Compare this to a non-poisonous prey species which can’t deviate from camouflage colors without risking being wiped out.

sneaky_squirrel t1_itdseta wrote on October 22, 2022 at 9:43 PM

This certainly makes the most sense.

The color is a disadvantage, but is overwhelmingly compensated with numbers AND killing off predators with the 'eat colorful' trait, which in turn removes the 'eat colorful' trait on local predators.

The colorful poison species might take an initial dip in population, but predator species quickly lose the predation trait from the natural selection pressure of the poisonous species.