2016/01/29 by Jolyon Troscianko, Jared K. Wilson‐Aggarwal, Martin Stevens +1 · 4 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Environmental Science · Psychology · #Animal Behavior and Reproduction #Avian ecology and behavior #Primate Behavior and Ecology
paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/srep19966
openalex publication_date 2016/01/29 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Evading detection by predators is crucial for survival. Camouflage is therefore a widespread adaptation, but despite substantial research effort our understanding of different camouflage strategies has relied predominantly on artificial systems and on experiments disregarding how camouflage is perceived by predators. Here we show for the first time in a natural system, that survival probability of wild animals is directly related to their level of camouflage as perceived by the visual systems of their main predators. Ground-nesting plovers and coursers flee as threats approach, and their clutches were more likely to survive when their egg contrast matched their surrounds. In nightjars - which remain motionless as threats approach - clutch survival depended on plumage pattern matching between the incubating bird and its surrounds. Our findings highlight the importance of pattern and luminance based camouflage properties, and the effectiveness of modern techniques in capturing the adaptive properties of visual phenotypes.