It does, though, describe a real phenomenon, which is that big, showy animals tend to get a disproportionate amount of attention from biologists. Whether this reflects the prejudices of the researchers themselves or is a consequence of a wider public interest in preserving showy species, and of the concomitant funding which accompanies that interest, is not clear. To keep the project within bounds, the team restricted their attention to Adamo’s original area of investigation, the south-western Alps. Plants with blue flowers, such as Gentiana ligustica, the trumpet gentian (also pictured), were heavily over-represented. The other cause of greater-than-expected scientific attention was a plant’s range, the larger the better.

Source: Stuff May 10, 2021 22:52 UTC