Color polymorphism influences species’ range and extinction risk

Polymorphisms in a population are expected to increase growth rate and stability of the population, leading to the expansion of geographic distribution and mitigation of extinction risk of a species. However, the generality of such ecological consequences of color polymorphism remains uncertain. Here, via a comparative approach, we assessed whether color polymorphisms influence climatic niche breadth and extinction risk in some groups of damselflies, butterflies, and vertebrates. The climatic niche breadth was greater and extinction risk was lower in polymorphic species than in monomorphic species in all taxa analyzed. The results suggest that color polymorphism facilitates range expansion and species persistence.