Do bovids evolve hindquarter markings for anti-predation?  

作　　者：Cong Yu Lixin CHEN Sihan NING Sana ULLAH Zhongqiu LI 

机构地区：[1]Laboratory of Animal Behavior and Conservation,School of Life Sciences,Nanjing University,Nanjing 210023,China [2]Department of Zoology,Division of Science and Technology,University of Education,Lahore 54000,Pakistan

出　　处：《Current Zoology》2022年第2期143-148,共6页动物学报（英文版）

基　　金：This study received support from the Tibet Major Science and Technology Project(XZ201901-GA-06).

摘　　要：Conspicuous coloration in animals serves many functions such as anti-predation.Anti-predation strategies include motion dazzle and flash behavior.Motion dazzle markings can reduce the probability of being preyed on because the predators misjudge their movement.In flash behavior,prey demonstrate conspicuous cue while fleeing;the predators follow them;however,the prey hide their markings and the predators assume that the prey has vanished.To investigate whether bovids use conspicuous hindquarter markings as an anti-predatory behavior,we undertook phylogenetically controlled analyses to explore under what physiological characteristics and environmental factors bovids might have this color pattern.The results suggested that rump patches and tail markings were more prevalent in bovids living in larger-sized groups,which supports the hypothesis of intraspecific communication.Moreover,we observed the occurrence of conspicuous white hindquarter markings in bovids having smaller body size and living in larger groups,suggesting a motion dazzle function.However,the feature of facultative exposing color patterns(flash markings)was not associated with body size,which was inconsistent with predictions and implied that bovids may not adopt this as an anti-predator strategy.It was concluded that species in bovids with conspicuous white hindquarter markings adopt motion dazzle as an anti-predation strategy while fleeing and escaping from being prey on.

关 键 词：anti-predation bovid flash behavior hindquarter markings interspecies communication motion dazzle 

分 类 号：Q951.3[生物学—动物学]