The role of body shape and edge characteristics on the concealment afforded by potentially disruptive marking

Webster, Richard; Godin, Jean‐Guy J.; Sherratt, Thomas N.

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2015.03.027

Cited by 12 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Experiments with humans searching for animal shapes indicate that edge enhancement interferes with object recognition, not only detection (Sharman, Moncrieff & Lovell, ). If the contrasting colour patches intersect the body's edge, the continuity of the signal at the true outline is reduced, and this form of disruptive coloration has been shown to be more effective against both birds and humans than background matching alone (Cuthill et al ., ; Schaefer & Stobbe, ; Stevens et al ., ; Fraser et al ., ; Webster, Godin & Sherratt, ; Troscianko, Skelhorn & Stevens, ). The same effect can be used to disguise features other than the outline by having highly salient false edges that run across different body parts, something Cott called ‘coincident disruptive coloration’.…”

Section: Peeling the Onionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Camouflage

2019

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Animal camouflage has long been used to illustrate the power of natural selection, and provides an excellent testbed for investigating the trade‐offs affecting the adaptive value of colour. However, the contemporary study of camouflage extends beyond evolutionary biology, co‐opting knowledge, theory and methods from sensory biology, perceptual and cognitive psychology, computational neuroscience and engineering. This is because camouflage is an adaptation to the perception and cognition of the species (one or more) from which concealment is sought. I review the different ways in which camouflage manipulates and deceives perceptual and cognitive mechanisms, identifying how, and where in the sequence of signal processing, strategies such as transparency, background matching, disruptive coloration, distraction marks, countershading and masquerade have their effects. As such, understanding how camouflage evolves and functions not only requires an understanding of animal sensation and cognition, it sheds light on perception in other species.

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Section: Peeling the Onionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Camouflage

2019

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“…The final type of camouflage measured was disruptive coloration, where contrasting markings break up an object’s outline and create false edges [7, 8, 15]. This camouflage strategy has received considerable investigation in the last decade, and has been shown to be highly successful in numerous contexts, including where stimuli have various contrast and pattern features manipulated [4, 25–30]. In spite of the clear protective benefits of artificial disruptive edges, it has proven far more difficult to measure how disruptive real prey are against their backgrounds [19, 31].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying camouflage: how to predict detectability from appearance

2017

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BackgroundQuantifying the conspicuousness of objects against particular backgrounds is key to understanding the evolution and adaptive value of animal coloration, and in designing effective camouflage. Quantifying detectability can reveal how colour patterns affect survival, how animals’ appearances influence habitat preferences, and how receiver visual systems work. Advances in calibrated digital imaging are enabling the capture of objective visual information, but it remains unclear which methods are best for measuring detectability. Numerous descriptions and models of appearance have been used to infer the detectability of animals, but these models are rarely empirically validated or directly compared to one another. We compared the performance of human ‘predators’ to a bank of contemporary methods for quantifying the appearance of camouflaged prey. Background matching was assessed using several established methods, including sophisticated feature-based pattern analysis, granularity approaches and a range of luminance and contrast difference measures. Disruptive coloration is a further camouflage strategy where high contrast patterns disrupt they prey’s tell-tale outline, making it more difficult to detect. Disruptive camouflage has been studied intensely over the past decade, yet defining and measuring it have proven far more problematic. We assessed how well existing disruptive coloration measures predicted capture times. Additionally, we developed a new method for measuring edge disruption based on an understanding of sensory processing and the way in which false edges are thought to interfere with animal outlines.ResultsOur novel measure of disruptive coloration was the best predictor of capture times overall, highlighting the importance of false edges in concealment over and above pattern or luminance matching.ConclusionsThe efficacy of our new method for measuring disruptive camouflage together with its biological plausibility and computational efficiency represents a substantial advance in our understanding of the measurement, mechanism and definition of disruptive camouflage. Our study also provides the first test of the efficacy of many established methods for quantifying how conspicuous animals are against particular backgrounds. The validation of these methods opens up new lines of investigation surrounding the form and function of different types of camouflage, and may apply more broadly to the evolution of any visual signal.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12862-016-0854-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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“…For homogeneous backgrounds the cryptic coloration can efficiently increase the difficulty of detection and recognition by visual hunting predators, but the predation risk will increase in heterogeneous habitats where a background matching solution performs poorly. One solution is to combine colouration and shape in disruptive patterns, most widely used as disruptive coloration, a visual breaking up of the body outline so that parts of it appear to fade separately into the background 36 . Another way of minimizing contour cues involves actually or apparently reducing any tell-tale shadows, accomplished through a dorsoventral flattening, often in combination with lateral flaps or various irregular body protuberances that bridge the gap between body and substrate, referring to countershading in some animals 31,51–55 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A unique camouflaged mimarachnid planthopper from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber

Jiang

Szwedo

Wang

2019

Sci Rep

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Predation is a major driving force for the evolution of functional forms. Avoidance of visual predators has resulted in different kinds of anti-predator defences, such as: camouflage, crypsis, disruptive coloration, and masquerade or mimesis. Camouflage is one of the forms involving shape, colouration, structure and behaviour when the visual pattern and orientation of an animal can determine whether it lives or dies. Inferring the behaviour and function of an ancient organism from its fossilised remains is a difficult task, but in many cases it closely resembles that of its descendants on uniformitarian grounds. Here we report and discuss examples of morphological and behavioural traits involving camouflage named recently as a flatoidinisation syndrome, shown by the inclusion of a planthopper in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. We found a new genus and species of an extinct Cretaceous planthopper family Mimarachnidae showing peculiar complex morphological adaptations to camouflage it on tree bark. Due to convergence, it resembles an unrelated tropiduchid planthopper from Eocene Baltic amber and also a modern representatives of the planthopper family Flatidae. Flattening of the body, the horizontal position of the tegmina at repose, tegmina with an undulating margin and elevated, wavy longitudinal veins, together with colouration and more sedentary behavioral traits enable these different insects to avoid predators. Our discovery reveals flatoidinisation syndrome in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber which may provide insights into the processes of natural selection and evolution in this ancient forest.

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The role of body shape and edge characteristics on the concealment afforded by potentially disruptive marking

Cited by 12 publications

References 42 publications

Camouflage

Camouflage

Quantifying camouflage: how to predict detectability from appearance

A unique camouflaged mimarachnid planthopper from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber

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