Hainan four-eyed turtles actively select suitable stones to masquerade according to their own morphology.

ABSTRACT: Masquerade is a form of camouflage in which animals use their body size, shape, and coloration to resemble inanimate objects in their environment to deceive predators. However, there is a lack of experimental evidence to show that animals actively choose objects that match these body parameters. To explore how the Hainan four-eyed turtle, Sacalia insulensis, masquerades using suitable stones, we used indoor video surveillance technology to study the preferences of juvenile S. insulensis for stones of different sizes, shapes, and colors. The results indicated that under normal conditions, during the day, juvenile S. insulensis preferred larger oval or round stones, while at night, they preferred oval stones that were closer to their own size, with no significant prefere

SUBMITTER: Yu H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11216812 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature