Rock, plants, feces ... What is the most effective for animal camouflage?

Text ｜ Xinyu

"Textiles" who look like dead leaves use camouflage to avoid predators. Image source: Shutterstock/DR Morley Read

New studies have shown that the state of camouflage into a lifeless object can avoid predators than other methods. If this visual deception method called "mask camouflage" is used, the predator has found 4 times that of no disguise.

Evolution makes animals hide themselves in various ways: the stripes on the zebra body make it difficult for them to be distinguished from the beast group. Some spiders are ignored because they look like bird dung. Essence But until now, no one has studied how these methods hidden in the eyes are superimposed.

Joao Vital de Alcantara Viana, the State University of Campanas State, pointed out that there has never been a research comparison of the type of camouflage. Therefore, this will be a good opportunity to understand how camouflage evolves, and how different types of camouflage interact.

In order to find the most effective camouflage strategy, the Viana team collected data from 84 studies on various predators and prey. They found that any form of camouflage can increase the search time of predators by an average of 63%, and the possibility of attacks will be reduced by 27%. Animals disguised as rocks, plants or feces can successfully delay the attack, increasing predators' search time by 295%.

Other camouflage methods, such as incorporating the background or using a chaotic color pattern, can increase the search time of predators by about 55%.

Anna Hughes, the University of Essex, believes that the research helps to discover the possible knowledge of the field in the field.

The thesis, the Base, the Brazilian ABC Federal University, Rafael Campos Duarte, said that the research has limitations in geographical distribution because most researchers can review the research on camouflage species from North America and Europe. With the development of research, they hope to study this phenomenon more diverse globally.

Related studies were published on September 14 in the British "Royal Society Journal B: Biological Science".

Related thesis information:

https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.0980

"China Science News" (2022-09-20 The 2nd edition of the original title "Scientist confirmed the best camouflage")

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