New enquiry published in the journalAnimal Behaviourhas uncover the whizz of European viper ' zigzag pattern , discover that it serves three defensive function when the serpent is under attack . In split up up the fauna ’s silhouette the zig first serves as a means of camouflage but once detected , it can both ward off and flurry the marauder as the snake in the grass slew away .
Led by scientists from the University of Jyväskylä , the research let on how even individual - colour patterns can be multifaceted in enable those that sport them to entrap or evade other animals . Protective color is a very common means of predator evasion but most animals that exhibit the defense strategy use different colouration for different purposes .
Some habituate theirs as mean of fog themselves , such aschameleons , whichblend into their surroundings , others areaposematic , which protect the animal by making them wait menacing , such aswasps . Another strategy is to grow an optical illusion that can confuse or panic attack predatory animal just long enough to get away . But a series of experiments undertaken by Janne Valkonen and Johanna Mappes at the University of Jyväskylä , Finland , has found that European viper ( Vipera sp . ) can achieve all three tricks with a single - color pattern – their characteristic zigzag .
They first test the zig ' benefit for hiding using plasticine models of snakes with differing colour patterns dot them along a path before challenging volunteers to walk to the trail and cover back how many “ snakes ” they saw . The reports let out far more manifestly - colour snakes being spy than those with the zigzag convention . Previous enquiry has establish that the viper ’ zigzag pattern attend as an aposematic word of advice of their fierce bite , so all that was leave to mark off off was if the color rule acted as an optical delusion .
The most substantial finding was the discovery of a particular class of illusion create by the viper ’ zigzag . In the same room that flick - leger cartoons can create a locomote image , when rapidly flicker , the zigzag also create a solid , moving human body . The team appraise the hurrying of fly vipers and used recorded footage to count the picture rate of the zag . They happen that the zigzag moved fast enough to create a “ flicker - fusion effect ” to the heart of mammalian predators , changing the show of the travel snake and making it more hard to catch . This effect however was n’t good in the eyes of raptors , which haveexceptionally dissolute vision .
While the viper ’s zig black and white pattern might seem a plain one , it is in fact a masterful illusion that can activate the snake to hide , spook , and scarper all in one . The find thrive the discussion on protective coloration and anti - predator adaptations in demonstrate how a individual - color pattern can have multiple effects during a depredation event .
