This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
Probably the worst thing to happen to you, if you’re an animal playing the game of life, is to be eaten by some bigger beast. If you’ve already managed to successfully reproduce by then, as far as evolution is concerned, maybe it’s OK for you to shuffle off that mortal coil. Still, I imagine it’s a terrible way to go. Luckily, evolution has endowed certain creatures with various tools to avoid being gobbled up as a mid-day snack, and one of the most widespread anti-predator defense systems is camouflage.
The drive to find food is nature’s grand game of hide and seek. As a prey species improves its ability to hide, predators improve their ability to seek. If camouflage is a clever way to keep a secret, then evolution has endowed some of its toothier beasts with some impressive skills for revealing those secrets.
Head over to Nautilus Magazine to read the rest of my latest piece: 1-Trick Chameleon: Predators Learn to See Through Camouflage
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Camouflaged nightjar photo via Jolyon Troscianko, used with permission.