Camouflaged
Camouflage is the art of not being seen, practised by predators and prey. Colour might help animals blend in with their environment - even when the animal itself cannot see in colour. Body shapes can make them appear to be some other object common in the same surroundings. Patterns might sometimes make an animal more noticeable, but they can also help disguise outline. The tiger's stripes and the giraffe's patches make them almost impossible to detect in dappled light.
Watch video clips from past programmes (3 clips)
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Handy disguise
Leafy sea dragons
Wild Down Under
Leafy sea dragons have perfect camouflage modelled on the local seaweeds.
Mountain hares
If snow hasn't yet fallen, mountain hares can get caught out wearing the wrong colour coat.
Featured in the following TV programmes
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Archived
Life in the Undergrowth: INVASION OF THE LAND
Ever since they came onto land, the tiny creatures of the undergrowth have been forming alliances and partnerships with each other and with plants.
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Archived
The Nature of Britain: Wilderness Britain
Alan Titchmarsh explores Wilderness Britain, realm of the magnificent golden eagle.
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Archived
Wild Down Under: 12/09/2003
The Great Barrier Reef and the dramatic coastline of Australia and New Zealand.
Species with this adaptation
Amphibians
Darwin's frog Birds
Capercaillie 
Eurasian eagle owl Mammals
Black bear 
Jaguar 
Polar bear 
Tiger 
Giraffe 
Hare Octopus, Squid and allies
North Pacific giant octopus 
Giant cuttlefish 
Humboldt squid Ray-finned fishes
Leafy sea dragon Reptiles
Thorny devil About
Camouflage is a method of crypsis – avoidance of observation – that allows an otherwise visible organism or object to remain indiscernible from the surrounding environment through deception. Examples include a tiger's stripes and the battledress of a modern soldier. The theory of camouflage covers the various strategies which are used to achieve this effect.
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Other Morphology Adaptations
- Able to mimic
- Aposematic
- Camouflaged
- Neotenic
- Polymorphic
- Sexually dimorphic
Elsewhere on the web
- Camouflage (wikipedia.org)
Site links
BBC links
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