Hainan four-eyed turtles actively select suitable stones to masquerade according to their own morphology

Masquerade is a form of camouflage in which animals use their body size, shape, and coloration to resemble inanimate objects in their environment to deceive predators. However, there is a lack of experimental evidence to show that animals actively choose objects that match these body parameters. To explore how the Hainan four-eyed turtle, Sacalia insulensis masquerades using suitable stones, we used indoor video surveillance technology to study the preferences of juvenile S. insulensis for stones of different sizes, shapes, and colors. The results indicated that under normal conditions, during the day, juvenile S. insulensis preferred larger oval or round stones, while at night, they preferred oval stones that were closer to their own size, with no significant preference for stone color during either time. When disturbed (by a researcher swinging their arm back and forth above the experimental setup every hour to mimic a predator), the turtles showed a preference for brown stones that w..., , , # Hainan four-eyed turtles actively select suitable stones to masquerade according to their own morphology

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.h70rxwdsw](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.h70rxwdsw)

This dataset records the preference of *Sacalia insulensis* turtles towards stones of different sizes, shapes, and colors during the day and at night, as well as the preference of *Sacalia insulensis* turtles before and after disturbance conditions in daylight.

## Description of the data and file structure

The CSV file contains the counts of Hainan four-eyed turtles (Sacalia insulensis) observed on stones of different sizes, shapes, and colors during the day and at night. It also includes the preference of these turtles before and after disturbance conditions in daylight.

* size: The data of size category of the stones.
* shape: The data of shape category of the stones.
* color: The data of color category of the stones.

* Daytime: The count of turtles observed on the stones during the day.
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