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Everyone wonders why the flamingo is pink–but nobody knows for sure. The color doesn’t serve as camouflage, because flamingos gather in groups. It could be that pink is metabolically cheap pigment for the body to produce compared with other colors. Once a color arises in a creature’s evolutionary history as a result of mutation or chance–and it does not serve as a detriment to survival–future animals carry similar shades. Alternatively, the derivation of the flamingo’s pink hue could stem from a female preference for pink, making this shade one that helps males better attract mates.