Funday Times

Camouflage and Mimicry
By Smriti Daniel
October 4, is "World Animal Day". So in honour of some of the beautiful creatures we share our planet with, we at the Funday Times decided that we would give you a little look into the way that animals in the wild survive. Just keep in mind two words: Camouflage and Mimicry.

Almost every animal has a "predator" (some other animal who would simply love to eat it for dinner). So when it comes to surviving in the animal world, if you can't run you've got to hide, or at least look scarier than the guy who's hunting you. Animals also use various tricks and disguises to catch their unsuspecting prey and to hide from their predators. So as you can imagine, it's a circus out there, with all these clever animals on the run, all out to get each other.

Camouflage and mimicry are adaptations some animals use as protection from predators. An animal that uses camouflage looks like things that surround it in its environment, for e.g. a leaf, a twig, or a rock. This results in camouflaged animals becoming almost invisible. A chameleon, for instance, changes colour to blend in with its environment.

A white polar bear is hard to see on an ice pole as is a striped zebra in the African bush. When it comes to camouflage, animals basically use one of two methods to conceal themselves in nature: general resemblance and special resemblance. With general resemblance, animals use colour to blend in with their habitat so that they're almost invisible. Besides chameleons, other animals that use colour to match their surroundings include hares, tree frogs, flounder fish, grasshoppers, and lizards. Sharks, dolphins and many other sea creatures also have a grayish-blue colouring, which helps them blend in with the soft light underwater.

With special resemblance, animals use a combination of colour, shape and behaviour to help them appear like something in their habitat. They are simply mistaken for something else. Animals that use special resemblance to conceal themselves include giraffes, leopards, praying manatees, snakes, butterflies and moths, caterpillars, and spiders.

Some animals have special markings that help to disguise their shapes. The zebra, for instance, has markings that run off its edges into the background. This feature allows the zebra to fade into the background so successfully it's hard for the predator to get a clear sense of where the animal begins and ends - the pattern on the body seems to run off in every direction. This disruptive coloration is particularly effective when animals in a species are grouped together.

To a lion, a herd of zebras doesn't look like a whole bunch of individual animals, but more like a big, striped mass. The vertical stripes all seem to run together, making it hard for a lion to stalk and attack one specific zebra. The stripes may also help a single zebra hide in areas of tall grass. Since lions are colourblind, it doesn't matter that the zebra and surrounding environment are completely different colours.

Nudibranches (a small sea creature) change their colouration by altering their diet. When a Nudibranch feeds from a particular sort of coral, its body deposits the pigments from that coral in the skin and outer extensions of the intestines.

The pigments show through, and the animal becomes the same colour as the coral. Since the coral is not only the creature's food, but also its habitat, the colouration is the perfect camouflage. When the creature moves on to a differently coloured piece of coral, its body colour changes with the new food source. Similarly, some parasite species, such as the fluke, will take on the colour of their host, which is also their home.
Many fish species are similarly camouflaged.

Their vertical stripes may be brightly coloured, which makes them stand out to predators, but when they swim in large schools, their stripes all meld together. This confusing spectacle gives predators the impression of one big, swimming blob.

Generally, this sort of camouflage doesn't hide an animal's presence, it merely misrepresents it. A related camouflage tactic is for an animal to take on the appearance of some other object or mimicry. One of the most famous examples of this sort of impressionist is the walking stick, an insect that looks like an ordinary twig. A predator can easily distinguish a walking stick from its surroundings, but the predator thinks it's only a stick, and so ignores it. You can also see this sort of camouflage in some other species, which have evolved so that they look just like tree leaves or flowers.

Other animals use a more aggressive sort of mimicry. Several moth species have developed striking designs on their wings that resemble the eyes of a larger animal. The back of the hawk moth caterpillar actually looks like a snake head, a frightening visage for most predators the moth would come across. A simpler variation on this adaptation is simple colour mimicry.

In many ecosystems, smaller poisonous animals develop a bright colouration - predators learn to steer clear of these colours, lest they get a mouthful of venom. Over time, other, non-poisonous species may develop the same colouration, cashing in on the nasty reputation of the poisonous species.

Mimicry is a different approach than ordinary camouflage, but it works toward the same end. By developing a certain appearance, an animal species makes itself a harder target for predators and a sneakier hunter for prey. In different areas around the world, you'll see all sorts of variations and combinations on the basic elements of camouflage. As animal species evolve, they become more and more in tune with their environment. Often, these sorts of adaptations are more effective survival tools than an animal's more aggressive weapons of defense (teeth, claws, beaks). After all, being entirely overlooked by a predator is preferable to having to put up a fight.

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