Abstract Conspicuous coloration in animals has many possible functions including signaling to conspecifics, or predator deterrence through confusion, intimidation, and duping; the last includes flash behavior where predators are deceived into looking for conspicuous cues exhibited in flight but that are hidden when the animal comes to rest. In an effort to see if flash behavior occurs in mammals, we made predictions about situations where conspicuous coloration (as based on human assessment) might occur in artiodactyls and lagomorphs, and other predictions as to where such coloration might be found under an intraspecific signaling hypothesis. Using phylogenetically controlled analyses, we found that across species of artiodactyls, conspicuous rumps are more likely to have evolved in larger-sized group-living species supporting an intraspecific signaling function; this was not replicated in lagomorphs. Examining those artiodactyls that can facultatively expose color patches (putative flash behavior), we discovered that this trait occurred in artiodactyls that are solitary or living in very small groups irrespective of their body size. It is therefore possible that species such as white- and black-tailed deer, which display white rumps and tails during pursuit but hide them when stationary, are using flash behavior to confuse the predator into looking for the wrong object and thereby avoid detection and suggests that this form of antipredator defense in mammals needs greater attention. We found no effects of group size or body mass on conspicuous tail or ear markings in these taxa. Significance statement Many mammals have conspicuous markings on their appendages and hindquarters, the function of which is mostly unknown. We matched these markings in rabbits, hares, and pikas and in bovids and cervids to both body size and group size across species. We found that conspicuous rumps are found in group living ungulates but when we separated these into conspicuous hindquarters always on display or that could be hidden, we found that hidden markings were principally found in species living alone or in very small groups irrespective of their body size. These species may expose conspicuous patches during flight but hide them at rest fooling the predator into searching for the wrong object, a relatively newly researched defense mechanism called flash behavior.

中文翻译：

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哺乳动物的闪光行为？

摘要 动物显眼的颜色有许多可能的功能，包括向同类发出信号，或通过混淆、恐吓和欺骗来威慑捕食者；最后一种包括闪光行为，其中掠食者被欺骗寻找在飞行中表现出的显眼线索，但在动物休息时隐藏起来。为了了解哺乳动物是否会出现闪光行为，我们对偶蹄类动物和兔形动物中可能出现显着着色（根据人类评估）的情况进行了预测，并预测了在种内信号假设下可能在何处发现这种着色. 使用系统发育控制的分析，我们发现在偶蹄动物的物种中，显眼的臀部更有可能在支持种内信号功能的大型群居物种中进化；这在兔形动物中没有复制。检查那些可以兼性暴露色块的偶蹄动物（假定的闪光行为），我们发现这种特征发生在独居或生活在非常小的群体中的偶蹄动物中，无论它们的体型大小。因此，白尾鹿和黑尾鹿等物种在追逐时显示白色的臀部和尾巴，而在静止时隐藏它们，这可能是利用闪光行为来迷惑捕食者寻找错误的对象，从而避免被发现并提出建议哺乳动物的这种反捕食者防御形式需要更多关注。我们发现群体大小或体重对这些分类群中显眼的尾巴或耳朵标记没有影响。意义说明 许多哺乳动物的附肢和后肢都有明显的标记，其功能大多未知。我们将兔子、野兔和鼠兔以及牛科动物和鹿科动物的这些标记与不同物种的体型和群体大小相匹配。我们发现在群居有蹄类动物中发现了显眼的臀部，但是当我们将它们分成显眼的后躯时，这些后躯总是在展示或可以隐藏，我们发现隐藏的标记主要存在于单独生活的物种或非常小的群体中，无论它们的体型大小. 这些物种可能会在飞行过程中暴露显眼的斑块，但在休息时将它们隐藏起来，以欺骗捕食者寻找错误的物体，