Camouflage

Camouflage is concealment that reduces an organism’s detectability or recognition in its surroundings. It can work through appearance, behavior, or both.

Background matching: A camouflage strategy in which an organism resembles the colors or patterns of its surroundings. This is the most direct way camouflage makes an organism blend into its background.
Predator avoidance: Behaviors and traits that reduce the likelihood that an animal will be detected, attacked, or eaten by predators. Concealment can keep prey from being noticed by predators.
Natural selection: The process by which heritable traits that improve reproductive success become more common in a population. Predation and other pressures can favor traits that make organisms harder to detect.
Peppered moth evolution: The historical change in peppered moth coloration associated with industrial pollution and subsequent environmental cleanup in Britain. The moth’s changing visibility on tree trunks became a classic case of camouflage and natural selection.
Disruptive coloration: Color patterns that break up an organism’s outline or obscure its body shape. Contrasting markings can hide an outline even when the animal does not match its background.
Ambush predation: A hunting strategy in which a predator waits concealed before attacking passing prey. Predators use camouflage to approach or wait for prey without being detected.
Predation: An interaction in which one organism kills and consumes another organism. Predator-prey interactions create a major evolutionary pressure for concealment.
Stick insect: An insect whose elongated body and often twig-like appearance provide concealment among vegetation. Its form can make an animal resemble part of its surroundings.
Countershading: A pattern in which an animal’s upper surface is darker than its underside, counteracting the effects of light and shadow. This pattern helps flatten the shading that would otherwise reveal body shape.
Cephalopod camouflage: The rapid alteration of color and skin pattern by cephalopods such as octopuses, cuttlefish, and squid. Cephalopods provide striking examples of camouflage adjusted to changing surroundings.

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