Mammals such as skunks (pictured) bear stripes and spots to warn predators of their noxious anal secretions — and these animals have other similarities. Researchers have found that these creatures also tend to be short and stocky, and to live in exposed habitats, suggesting that their bold coloration is a key antipredator defence.
Theodore Stankowich at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and his colleagues scored dozens of terrestrial mammalian species according to boldness of coloration, body size, habitat openness and ability to use anal secretions in defence. They found that lineages of bolder, more contrasting coloration are better able to aim and spray their anal secretions at predators.
The authors suggest that the bold colours and enhanced defences evolved as a result of either the mammals moving to a more open environment, which has fewer hiding places, or an increase in predation in their initial habitats.
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Stinky, stocky and stripy for a reason. Nature 474, 131 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/474131d
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/474131d
