Our Spectacular Planet

Many plants and animals possess some form of camouflage, for many reasons. Natural camouflage can involve many different senses, including sight, smell, touch, and sound. The reasons for camouflage are primarily to deceive predators or prey, but camouflage can serve to aid reproduction. Some animals are even capable of adapting their appearance to match their environment. Why? Camouflage has two important objectives. Because it tends to render the animal less visible, it ...

Insects are usually the lower end of the foodchain consumed by other animals and some uses camouflage for their protection and survival. They blend into their background and won’t be easily spotted for the unsuspecting predator. Some insects mimics dead or living leaves, others blend with tree bark or branchs or simply hide in the rocky soil with perfection. Here are some of the masters of this technique. Hiding on tree bark Hiding ...

Fishs, along with insects, are real masters of this type of camouflage. They can blend with their suroundings with an astonishing efficacity. To acheive this, the organisms need to be able to change their colours at will as they move across varying coloured backgrounds. Colour change in animals is carried out by special cells known as Chromatophores. Chromatophores are cells containing pigments that are controlled or stimulated by either nerves or ...

In nature, there is a strong evolutionary pressure for animals to blend into their environment or conceal their shape; for prey animals to avoid predators and for predators to be able to sneak up on prey. Natural camouflage is one method that animals use to meet these. There are a number of methods of doing so. One is for the animal to blend in with its surroundings, while another is ...