![]() ![]() The solution came with the realisation that even though eyespots may resemble eyes, not all views of animal eyes always resemble eyespots." "The problem has been that it is difficult to tell whether predators react to eye-likeness or some other property of the mark. Researchers at Åbo Akademi University in Finland conducted an experiment in which artificial prey with different marks were presented to three-spined sticklebacks, a small species of fish, half of which had been exposed to the presence of their natural enemy, a larger fish.ĭr Sami Merilaita, one of the two researchers involved in the project, said: "The challenge has been to find a way to tell what comes to the mind of an attacking predator when it sees an eyespot. ![]() However, even though we may think that eyespots resemble staring eyes, evidence has been lacking as to whether other creatures make the same association. One enduring theory of their function has been that they mimic the eyes of a predator's own predator and thus produce an intimidating effect. ![]() To humans at least, these concentric circle markings often bear a resemblance to the vertebrate eye, such as those of an owl. New evidence published recently in The American Naturalist shows that prey eyespots intimidate predators because they associate the eyelike appearance of eyespots with the threat posed by their own enemy.Įyespots are enigmatic marks that are often found on prey species. ![]()
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