Does any felid have aposematic colouration on the face?

@marionholmes

Everyone knows that aposematic colouration - such as the bold black-and-white of skunks (Mephitidae, e.g. https://www.mymove.com/pest-control/guides/remove-skunks/) - is designed to warn enemies off. And everyone is familiar with many examples from wasps (https://www.whitehorse.vic.gov.au/waste-environment/trees-and-gardens/wildlife-guests-and-pests/pests/european-wasps) to the blue-ringed octopus (https://www.divescotty.com/underwater-blog/blue-ringed-octopus.php).

However, it is easy to overlook a certain principle: that emphasising the hazard is necessary mainly because the defensive capabilities of the animals involved are not obvious from anatomy or behaviour.

In other words, the idea behind aposematic colouration is not merely 'Beware!', it is 'I am much more dangerous than I look'.

That skunks could possibly smell so bad is not obvious to the uninitiated; the sting of wasps is hardly a visible feature of their anatomy; and the venom of the blue-ringed octopus is neither self-evident nor predictable based on previous experience with other octopuses. Hence it pays these animals to advertise, not just with threatening postures but also with colouration so bold that it gives pause to antagonists to consider 'What does this creature know that I do not?'

Our scientific descriptors should reflect this distinction: between colouration that emphasises obvious weaponry and colouration that hints at hidden weaponry. And is it not true that the term 'aposematic' basically refers to the latter?

Keeping all of this in mind, what should we call the bold colouration on the faces of the puma (Puma concolor, https://www.wallpaperflare.com/look-face-background-portrait-wild-cat-puma-cougar-wallpaper-ycqko) and the caracal (Caracal caracal, https://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-caracal-months-old-front-brown-background-image39254235)? Several genera of felids have fang-baring expressions, but these species are odd in that they constitute flags.

Their facial fur has a permanent pattern of dark-and-pale which becomes 'warpaint' when the face is contorted in threat.

The following show:

• the puma: https://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-snarling-puma-image16410455 and https://focusedcollection.com/200990770/stock-photo-cougar-aggressive-threat-close-portrait.html and https://www.indiatimes.com/technology/science-and-future/hiker-survive-cougar-attack-video-525105.html and https://www.kimballstock.com/preview.asp?db=a&image=COU+01+RK0182+03, and
• the caracal: https://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/photo/caracal-snarling-head-shot-close-up-royalty-free-image/410945-002 and https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-snarling-caracal-buffelsfontein-gme-nature-reserve-south-africa-image42818107 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3E_jK8By3c).

It is true that felids do possess 'hidden weapons' in the sense of their retractile claws, which in most species are actually more dangerous - particularly to the eyes - than the canine teeth. On this basis there is a case to be made that, when a cat fang-bares, what is being hinted at is the scratch rather than the bite.

However, neither the puma nor the caracal has weaponry beyond that of other felids.

Furthermore, the Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_lynx and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaXmIPHrHmY) is reluctant to use a fang-baring expression, despite having disproportionately large feet (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAmkt_cYkuA and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niJg7Q1XLyU) and, presumably, claws. So why the specific emphasis, and do the facial colourations of puma and caracal qualify as 'aposematic'?

One possible explanation is that the puma and the caracal, for ecological and biogeographical reasons, were not encountered frequently enough for their enemies to become familiar with them.

• The puma overlapped in habitat with the wolf and the brown bear, but the felid avoided contact by being nocturnal and hiding in trees and rocky outcrops, and
• The caracal coexists with a diverse fauna of carnivores larger-bodied than itself, but is perhaps the most secretive felid in most of its habitat.

According to this rationale the main value of flagging their fang-baring displays may be to startle and confuse naive antagonists, stalling any attack. And if so, would our use of 'aposematic' for these patterns of facial colourations not contort this adjective?

Posted on 25 de julho de 2021, 10:41 PM by milewski