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3 - The concealment of body parts through coincident disruptive coloration

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

By
Innes C. Cuthill  and
Aron Székely
Edited by
Martin Stevens  and
Sami Merilaita
Innes C. Cuthill
Affiliation:
University of Bristol
Aron Székely
Affiliation:
University of Oxford
Martin Stevens
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Sami Merilaita
Affiliation:
Åbo Akademi University, Finland
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Summary

Most recent tests of the theory of disruptive coloration have focussed on the disguise of the body's outline (e.g. Merilaita 1998; Cuthill et al. 2005; Schaefer & Stobbe 2006; Stevens et al. 2006b; Fraser et al. 2007). When placed at the body's edge, the high-contrast colour boundaries that are characteristic of disruptive patterning create false contours of higher stimulus intensity than those of the real outline (Stevens & Cuthill 2006; Stevens et al. 2006a). In this way, the probability of object recognition through boundary shape is diminished. However, the pioneers of the theory of disruptive coloration, Abbott Thayer (1909) and Hugh Cott (1940), also emphasised the importance of concealing other characteristic, and thus potentially revealing, body parts, such as eyes and limbs. Cott (1940) devoted a whole chapter of his influential textbook to this topic, arguing that the successful disguise of such features could be achieved through what he termed ‘coincident disruptive coloration’ (Figure 3.1).

Type
Chapter
Information
Animal Camouflage
Mechanisms and Function
 , pp. 34 - 52
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

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References

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