Serval

Explanation: Here is an example of wonderful adaptation: the serval, a small feline of sub-Saharan Africa.

Servals are native to environments with dense grasses and shrubs, where they prey on rodents, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and some insects.

They are long-legged, giving them a sight advantage in the dense brush, where they can leap and pounce on their prey. They sport very large ears, by which they can detect and zero in on the slightest movement of their prey even if unseen in the dense brush.

On the alert! This serval was wary of our presence,
here in Serengeti National Park in Tanzania.

And their coat sports a mixed pattern of spots and stripes, serving as camouflage in the visually complex environment. Further, servals are mostly crepuscular, active at dawn and dusk, and such dim lighting likely adds to their cryptic nature. Again, these are all great examples of adaptations of form and behavior to aid their hunting and probably their avoiding other predators, as well.

Serval on the hunt in early morning, in Masai Mara, Kenya.

Moreover, the specific pattern of spots and stripes seems unique to each individual. Whether this is by random happenstance of genetics, or may serve a further purpose of individual identification to each others, does not seem to have been studied. Unfortunately, the coats are sought on the black market, and have made servals the targets of trapping and hunting.

And, further, the unique patterns of spots on other felids, particularly leopards, leopard cats, tigers, Asiatic golden cats, and other species, have been used by ecologists as a way to identify individuals from camera-trap images using machine-learning algorithms. Such methods apparently have not been tried on servals but seems entirely plausible to help study individuals in the field through use of non-invasive trail cameras.

EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week