Psammophory

Psammophory is a method by which certain plants armor themselves with sand on their body parts making chances less for them to be eaten by animals. University of California graduate students have listed over 200 species of desert plants that coat themselves in sand and they trap sand that the wind blows at them.[1] Over 200 species of plants hailing from 88 genera in 34 families have been identified as psammorphorous.[2]

The term was first proposed in 1989 by scientists studying the habits of the beetle Georissus which actively covers its elytra with sand or mud particles.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Psammophory - An Ideal Plant Protection to Fight against Predatory Animals". Cenetrionline.org. 1 June 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  2. ↑ "Sand Armor". Indefenseofplants.com. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  3. ↑ Bameul, Franck (1989-01-01). "Description of the camouflage behaviour of a Coleoptera: The active disguise of Georissus crenulatus (Coleoptera Georissidae), and proposal of a new classification of disguises among invertebrates". 309: 351–356.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.