01 Animal Defenses Flashcards
What is Natural History?
The observational science of fauna and flora in the real world.
Who studies Natural History
A naturalist.
Animals include?
mammals, birds, reptiles, insects, and amphibians.
What is background matching
Siting motionless while matching the background.
Merging cryptic behavior (ie. not moving) with appearance.
Disruptive Pattern
Patterns which break up the outline of the body shape to make the animal camouflage better
Coincident Disruptive Coloring
When patterns on different parts of the body match up to create one solid pattern when the animal is in a certain position.
Group Coincident Disruptive Patterns
Group merging together to transform outline of overall form
Masquerade
Changing SHAPE and colour to hide
Bicolouration
Animals are coloured to be camouflaged from two different perspectives ex. whirligigs black on top white on bottom.
Countershading/Self-Shadow Concealment
Animals are lighter in areas where shadows will fall to create flat uniform shape and hide body dimensions
What are startle patterns and what do they need to do to be effective?
Brightly coloured parts of an animal which appear when they are threatened to give the animal a chance to escape. Usually varry so predator cannot get habituated to them.
What are eyespots, and what do they do?
Startle Pattern for intimidation make animal look large than it is
Startle Structures
Parts of the animal that come out when it is threatened to startle predators
Osmeterium
Swallow tailed caterpillar startle structure
Startle Sounds
Animal making noises to ward off predator.
Distraction/Deflection Patterns + Structures
Brightly coloured patterns on non-vital parts of the animal to draw predatory attention also include eyespots
What is body armour on animals and what does it do?
Structures that shield soft vulnerable parts of the body.
How do soft structures protect animals from being eaten? What are some forms of these soft strucutres?
Make the animal unappealing or difficult to eat
Hairs or fibers
Define Quills
Modified guard hairs
Poison Spines
Stiff hairs tipped with toxins used as a chemical defense.
Aposematic Colouration
Warning Colouration, yellow, red and orange to advertise poison and warn animals not to eat
Nighttime Aposematic Colouration
B + W
Sequester
Acquiring poison through something in their diet and store it in the body for use
Aggressive Mimicry
An animal uses mimicry to obtain a meal.
