DRAČKOVÁ, Tereza, Radovan SMOLINSKÝ, Zuzana HIADLOVSKÁ, Matej DOLINAY and Natália MARTÍNKOVÁ. Quantifying colour difference in animals with variable patterning. Journal of Vertebrate Biology. 2020, vol. 69, No 4, p. 1-9. ISSN 2694-7684. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.25225/jvb.20029.
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Basic information
Original name Quantifying colour difference in animals with variable patterning
Authors DRAČKOVÁ, Tereza (203 Czech Republic, belonging to the institution), Radovan SMOLINSKÝ (703 Slovakia, belonging to the institution), Zuzana HIADLOVSKÁ (703 Slovakia), Matej DOLINAY (703 Slovakia, belonging to the institution) and Natália MARTÍNKOVÁ (703 Slovakia, guarantor, belonging to the institution).
Edition Journal of Vertebrate Biology, 2020, 2694-7684.
Other information
Original language English
Type of outcome Article in a journal
Field of Study 10613 Zoology
Country of publisher Czech Republic
Confidentiality degree is not subject to a state or trade secret
WWW URL
RIV identification code RIV/00216224:14310/20:00117311
Organization unit Faculty of Science
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.25225/jvb.20029
UT WoS 000588646400001
Keywords in English colouration; Reptilia; image analysis; colour pattern; RGB; CIELAB
Tags rivok
Tags International impact, Reviewed
Changed by Changed by: Mgr. Marie Šípková, DiS., učo 437722. Changed: 3/5/2021 14:10.
Abstract
Colour pattern influences behaviour and affects survival of organisms through perception of light reflectance. Spectrophotometric methods used to study colour optimise precision and accuracy of reflectance across wavelengths, while multiband photographs are generally used to assess the complexity of colour patterns. Using standardised photographs of sand lizards (Lacerta agilis), we compare how colours characterised using point measurements (using the photographs, but simulating spectrophotometry) on the skin differ from colours estimated by clustering pixels in the photograph of the lizard's body. By taking photographs in the laboratory and in the field, the experimental design included two 2-way comparisons. We compare point vs. colour clustering characterisation and influence of illumination in the laboratory and in the field. We found that point measurements adequately represented the dominant colour of the lizard. Where colour patterning influenced measurement geometry, image analysis outperformed point measurement with respect to stability between technical replicates on the same animal. The greater colour variation derived from point measurements increased further under controlled laboratory illumination. Both methods revealed lateral colour asymmetry in sand lizards, i.e. that colours subtly differed between left and right flank. We conclude that studies assessing the impact of colour on animal ecology and behaviour should utilise hyperspectral imaging, followed by image analysis that encompasses the whole colour pattern.
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