Conspicuous coloration in animals serves many functions such as anti-predation. Anti-predation strategies include motion dazzle and flash behavior. Motion dazzle markings can reduce the probability of being preyed on because the predators misjudge their movement. In flash behavior, prey demonstrate conspicuous cue while fleeing; the predators follow them; however, the prey hide their markings and the predators assume that the prey has vanished. To investigate whether bovids use conspicuous hindquarter markings as an anti-predatory behavior, we undertook phylogenetically controlled analyses to explore under what physiological characteristics and environmental factors bovids might have this color pattern. The results suggested that rump patches and tail markings were more prevalent in bovids living in larger-sized groups, which supports the hypothesis of intraspecific communication. Moreover, we observed the occurrence of conspicuous white hindquarter markings in bovids having smaller body size and living in larger groups, suggesting a motion dazzle function. However, the feature of facultative exposing color patterns (flash markings) was not associated with body size, which was inconsistent with predictions and implied that bovids may not adopt this as an anti-predator strategy. It was concluded that species in bovids with conspicuous white hindquarter markings adopt motion dazzle as an anti-predation strategy while fleeing and escaping from being prey on.

中文翻译：

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牛科动物会进化出用于反捕食的后躯标记吗？

动物的显眼颜色具有许多功能，例如反捕食。反捕食策略包括运动炫目和闪光行为。运动炫目标记可以降低被捕食的可能性，因为掠食者会误判他们的运动。在闪现行为中，猎物在逃跑时表现出明显的暗示；掠食者跟随他们；然而，猎物隐藏了他们的标记，捕食者认为猎物已经消失了。为了调查牛科动物是否使用明显的后躯标记作为反捕食行为，我们进行了系统发育控制分析，以探索牛科动物在哪些生理特征和环境因素下可能具有这种颜色模式。结果表明，臀部斑块和尾巴标记在生活在较大群体中的牛科动物中更为普遍，这支持了种内交流的假设。此外，我们观察到体型较小且生活在较大群体中的牛科动物会出现明显的白色后躯斑纹，这表明具有运动眩晕功能。然而，兼性暴露颜色图案（闪光标记）的特征与体型无关，这与预测不一致，暗示牛科动物可能不会将其作为反捕食者的策略。得出的结论是，具有明显白色后躯斑纹的牛科动物在逃跑和逃避猎物时采用炫目运动作为一种反捕食策略。建议使用运动炫目功能。然而，兼性暴露颜色图案（闪光标记）的特征与体型无关，这与预测不一致，暗示牛科动物可能不会将其作为反捕食者的策略。得出的结论是，具有明显白色后躯斑纹的牛科动物在逃跑和逃避猎物时采用炫目运动作为一种反捕食策略。建议使用运动炫目功能。然而，兼性暴露颜色图案（闪光标记）的特征与体型无关，这与预测不一致，暗示牛科动物可能不会将其作为反捕食者的策略。得出的结论是，具有明显白色后躯斑纹的牛科动物在逃跑和逃避猎物时采用炫目运动作为一种反捕食策略。