Imperfect camouflage: how to hide in a variable world?

Hughes, Anna E.; Liggins, Eric; Stevens, Martin

doi:10.1098/rspb.2019.0646

Cited by 51 publications

(70 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…Maybe the most fundamental strategy to gain protection from predators is via camouflage, which makes prey difficult to detect from its background (Merilaita & Stevens, ). Efficacy of camouflage is always dependent on its visual background (Endler, ; Hughes, Liggins, & Stevens, ; Michalis, Scott‐Samuel, Gibson, & Cuthill, ). Spatial and temporal variation in visual environments (e.g., darkness of the background) can lead to the evolution of color polymorphisms, that is, the coexistence of genetically different color morphs within a population (Bond & Kamil, ; Cook, ; Fisher, ; Ford, ; Roulin, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gray plumage color is more cryptic than brown in snowy landscapes in a resident color polymorphic bird

Koskenpato

Lehikoinen

Lindstedt

et al. 2020

Ecology and Evolution

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Camouflage may promote fitness of given phenotypes in different environments. The tawny owl (Strix aluco) is a color polymorphic species with a gray and brown morph resident in the Western Palearctic. A strong selection pressure against the brown morph during snowy and cold winters has been documented earlier, but the selection mechanisms remain unresolved. Here, we hypothesize that selection favors the gray morph because it is better camouflaged against predators and mobbers in snowy conditions compared to the brown one. We conducted an online citizen science experiment where volunteers were asked to locate a gray or a brown tawny owl specimen from pictures taken in snowy and snowless landscapes. Our results show that the gray morph in snowy landscapes is the hardest to detect whereas the brown morph in snowy landscapes is the easiest to detect. With an avian vision model, we show that, similar to human perceivers, the brown morph is more conspicuous than the gray against coniferous tree trunks for a mobbing passerine. We suggest that with better camouflage, the gray morph may avoid mobbers and predators more efficiently than the brown morph and thus survive better in snowy environments. As winters are getting milder and shorter in the species range, the selection periods against brown coloration may eventually disappear or shift poleward.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gray plumage color is more cryptic than brown in snowy landscapes in a resident color polymorphic bird

Koskenpato

Lehikoinen

Lindstedt

et al. 2020

Ecology and Evolution

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show abstract

“…However, the model also predicts that x* will generally be smaller than x crypsis , so crypsis is not usually maximal. Typically, imperfect crypsis has been attributed to background heterogeneity (Hughes et al, 2019), gene flow (Rosenblum, 2006), constrictions for crypsis (Cutchill, 2019), or a conflict with other selective pressures on coloration such as sexual selection (Martin and Badyaev, 1996). As such, the present model suggests that imperfect crypsis may be widespread in the wild.…”

Section: A B Cmentioning

confidence: 84%

The evolution of crypsis when pigmentation is physiologically costly

Moreno‐Rueda

2020

Anim. Biodiv. Conserv.

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Predation is one of the main selective forces in nature, frequently selecting for crypsis in prey. Visual crypsis usually implies the deposition of pigments in the integument. However, acquisition, synthesis, mobilisation and maintenance of pigments may be physiologically costly. Here, I develop an optimisation model to analyse how pigmentation costs may affect the evolution of crypsis. The model provides a number of predictions that are easy to test empirically. It predicts that imperfect crypsis should be common in the wild, but in such a way that pigmentation is less than what is required to maximise crypsis. Moreover, optimal crypsis should be closer to “maximal” crypsis as predation risk increases and/or pigmentation costs decrease. The model predicts for intraspecific variation in optimal crypsis, depending on the difference in the predation risk or the costs of pigmentation experienced by different individuals.

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“…When potential prey move on different backgrounds, the evolution of crypsis may follow different ways [76][77][78][79]. Prey may acquire a compromise crypsis, being imperfectly cryptic on several backgrounds at the same time, especially if backgrounds are similar.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crypsis Decreases with Elevation in a Lizard

et al. 2019

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Predation usually selects for visual crypsis, the colour matching between an animal and its background. Geographic co-variation between animal and background colourations is well known, but how crypsis varies along elevational gradients remains unknown. We predict that dorsal colouration in the lizard Psammodromus algirus should covary with the colour of bare soil—where this lizard is mainly found—along a 2200 m elevational gradient in Sierra Nevada (SE Spain). Moreover, we predict that crypsis should decrease with elevation for two reasons: (1) Predation pressure typically decreases with elevation, and (2) at high elevation, dorsal colouration is under conflicting selection for both crypsis and thermoregulation. By means of standardised photographies of the substratum and colourimetric measurements of lizard dorsal skin, we tested the colour matching between lizard dorsum and background. We found that, along the gradient, lizard dorsal colouration covaried with the colouration of bare soil, but not with other background elements where the lizard is rarely detected. Moreover, supporting our prediction, the degree of crypsis against bare soil decreased with elevation. Hence, our findings suggest local adaptation for crypsis in this lizard along an elevational gradient, but this local adaptation would be hindered at high elevations.

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Imperfect camouflage: how to hide in a variable world?

Cited by 51 publications

References 77 publications

Gray plumage color is more cryptic than brown in snowy landscapes in a resident color polymorphic bird

Gray plumage color is more cryptic than brown in snowy landscapes in a resident color polymorphic bird

The evolution of crypsis when pigmentation is physiologically costly

Crypsis Decreases with Elevation in a Lizard

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