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Why the leopard got its spots: relating pattern development to ecology in felids

W. L. Allen, I. C. Cuthill, N. E. Scott-Samuel, R. Baddeley, William Allen Orcid Logo

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Volume: 278, Issue: 1710, Pages: 1373 - 1380

Swansea University Author: William Allen Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1098/rspb.2010.1734

Abstract

A complete explanation of the diversity of animal colour patterns requires an understanding of both the developmental mechanisms generating them and their adaptive value. However, only two previous studies, which involved computer-generated evolving prey, have attempted to make this link. This study...

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Published in: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Published: The Royal Society 2011
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa28001
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spelling 2016-06-10T14:07:02.0792215 v2 28001 2016-05-16 Why the leopard got its spots: relating pattern development to ecology in felids d6f01dd06d25fa8804daad86e251b8a5 0000-0003-2654-0438 William Allen William Allen true false 2016-05-16 SBI A complete explanation of the diversity of animal colour patterns requires an understanding of both the developmental mechanisms generating them and their adaptive value. However, only two previous studies, which involved computer-generated evolving prey, have attempted to make this link. This study examines variation in the camouflage patterns displayed on the flanks of many felids. After controlling for the effects of shared ancestry using a fully resolved molecular phylogeny, this study shows how phenotypes from plausible felid coat pattern generation mechanisms relate to ecology. We found that likelihood of patterning and pattern attributes, such as complexity and irregularity, were related to felids' habitats, arboreality and nocturnality. Our analysis also indicates that disruptive selection is a likely explanation for the prevalence of melanistic forms in Felidae. Furthermore, we show that there is little phylogenetic signal in the visual appearance of felid patterning, indicating that camouflage adapts to ecology over relatively short time scales. Our method could be applied to any taxon with colour patterns that can reasonably be matched to reaction–diffusion and similar models, where the kinetics of the reaction between two or more initially randomly dispersed morphogens determines the outcome of pattern development. Journal Article Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 278 1710 1373 1380 The Royal Society 31 12 2011 2011-12-31 10.1098/rspb.2010.1734 COLLEGE NANME Biosciences COLLEGE CODE SBI Swansea University 2016-06-10T14:07:02.0792215 2016-05-16T09:58:59.7452587 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences W. L. Allen 1 I. C. Cuthill 2 N. E. Scott-Samuel 3 R. Baddeley 4 William Allen 0000-0003-2654-0438 5
title Why the leopard got its spots: relating pattern development to ecology in felids
spellingShingle Why the leopard got its spots: relating pattern development to ecology in felids
William Allen
title_short Why the leopard got its spots: relating pattern development to ecology in felids
title_full Why the leopard got its spots: relating pattern development to ecology in felids
title_fullStr Why the leopard got its spots: relating pattern development to ecology in felids
title_full_unstemmed Why the leopard got its spots: relating pattern development to ecology in felids
title_sort Why the leopard got its spots: relating pattern development to ecology in felids
author_id_str_mv d6f01dd06d25fa8804daad86e251b8a5
author_id_fullname_str_mv d6f01dd06d25fa8804daad86e251b8a5_***_William Allen
author William Allen
author2 W. L. Allen
I. C. Cuthill
N. E. Scott-Samuel
R. Baddeley
William Allen
format Journal article
container_title Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
container_volume 278
container_issue 1710
container_start_page 1373
publishDate 2011
institution Swansea University
doi_str_mv 10.1098/rspb.2010.1734
publisher The Royal Society
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences
document_store_str 0
active_str 0
description A complete explanation of the diversity of animal colour patterns requires an understanding of both the developmental mechanisms generating them and their adaptive value. However, only two previous studies, which involved computer-generated evolving prey, have attempted to make this link. This study examines variation in the camouflage patterns displayed on the flanks of many felids. After controlling for the effects of shared ancestry using a fully resolved molecular phylogeny, this study shows how phenotypes from plausible felid coat pattern generation mechanisms relate to ecology. We found that likelihood of patterning and pattern attributes, such as complexity and irregularity, were related to felids' habitats, arboreality and nocturnality. Our analysis also indicates that disruptive selection is a likely explanation for the prevalence of melanistic forms in Felidae. Furthermore, we show that there is little phylogenetic signal in the visual appearance of felid patterning, indicating that camouflage adapts to ecology over relatively short time scales. Our method could be applied to any taxon with colour patterns that can reasonably be matched to reaction–diffusion and similar models, where the kinetics of the reaction between two or more initially randomly dispersed morphogens determines the outcome of pattern development.
published_date 2011-12-31T03:34:03Z
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score 11.017062

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