#socialsignals

How many eyes can you see on this Sumatran tiger? If you’re an animal trying to sneak up on her, the answer might be four! Those lovely white spots on her ears are officially known as “ocelli” (singular “ocellus”) but are often called “flashes” or “eye spots.” All #tigers have them, and while nobody can agree on their exact purpose, it’s generally agreed upon that they play some role in communication. Here’s the main theories:

- The flashes allow tigers to see each other when following each other dense vegetation. Even young tigers have very well defined ear markings, which would be super useful for a female trying to keep track of multiple cubs at once.

- They look like false eyes facing out from the back of a tiger’s head, which might discourage anything trying to sneak up on a cat into thinking it’s been seen. False eyes are a pretty common evolutionary strategy, but they’re more commonly seen in prey species.

- The white spots are involved in intra-species communication, potentially aggressive signaling. When tigers are frustrated or upset, their ears swivel so the white spots are visible to anyone in front of them - it’s thought that this might help clearly indicate internal state for a species whose adult interactions with other conspecifics are often violent and sometimes deadly.

#tiger #sumatrantiger #socialsignals #eyespots #stripes (at Phoenix, Arizona)
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