What is camouflage

What is Camouflage?

Zikri

What is camouflage?

Camouflage (or cryptic coloration) is the process of blending into the background.

It only works if the predator hunts by vision - animals who hunt by sound or smell are not fooled by camouflage Many animals have color patterns which match the environment in which they live. If they freeze against this background, they blend in and are harder to see.

How camouflage works ?

In nature, every advantage increases an animal's chances of survival, and therefore its chances of reproducing.

This simple fact has caused animal species to evolve a number of special adaptations that help them find food and keep them from becom ing food.

One of the most widespread and varied adaptations is natural camouflage, an animal's ability to hide itself from predator and prey.

How camouflage works ?

In this article, we'll see how animals blend in with their environment so that others might overlook them.

We'll look at a few sophisticated hiders who can change their camouflage in accordance with a change in their surroundings.

In addition to these expert hiders, we'll look at some animals who don't hide at all, but throw predators off by disguising themselves as something dangerous or uninteresting.

More about camouflage.

Animals with natural camouflage colors inherited their colors from their parents, or occasionally with new colors from genetic mutations.

New colors can be good or bad. Animals which are born with bad camouflage colors are easy to spot, so they don't tend to live long.

For example, a white deer would be easier for a cougar to find and eat. On the other hand, a white cougar would be easier for a deer to avoid, so the cougar would starve. Animals that are born with better camouflage coloring can survive and pass their coloring to their offspring.


There are many ways animals camouflage themselves.

An animal's color, shape, or skin texture can help them blend in with their environment.

For example, there are insects that look like leaves or twigs or tree bark, fish that have the same color patterns as the particular type of coral they hide in, and birds that blend in with the rocks where they roost.


Other animals can actually change their appearance according to their environment.

The arctic fox for example has a dark colored coat in the spring and summer months when there are green plants and dark soil every where.

But then in the winter when snow is covering everything, the fox's coat turns all white. The behavior of some animals also helps them to blend in.


For instance, green chameleons that live in trees tend to sway back and forth when sitting on a branch - this makes them appear as if they were just a leaf blowing in the breeze.

As you probably know, there are still other animals that can actually change the color or texture of their skin depending on what their environment looks like.


The octopus and cuttlefish are great examples of this.

They have special cells in their bodies that allow them to rearrange pigment molecules (colored molecules) in order to change the color patterns in their skin. Some of them can also make their skin either smooth or prickly.

Picture For More Camouflage Animal1. Owl

Picture For More Camouflage Animal2. Uroplatus Geckos

Picture For More Camouflage Animal3. Willow Ptarmigan

Picture For More Camouflage Animal4.Spider

Picture For More Camouflage Animal5.Stone Flounder

Picture For More Camouflage Animal6.Common Baron Caterpillar

Picture For More Camouflage Animal7.Frog

Picture For More Camouflage Animal8.Moth(Eyespot)

Percentages of AnimalAnimals were Young or Adult

Of Aquatic Animals

Adult Aquatic Anim

als

20%

Young Aquatic Animals

85%

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What is camouflage

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