Camouflage

Now You See Me,
Now You Don’t

The Science Behind Camouflage
Introduction
These are some of the questions I had when I started
this project:
1. What is camouflage?
2. Why do animals use camouflage?
3. How do they use camouflage?
4. How is camouflage helpful?
5. Who other than nature uses camouflage?
6. Was evolution involved in camouflage?
7. Do only solitary predators and prey use camouflage?
8. Do plants use camouflage?
Background
What is the Meaning of
Camouflage?
• To conceal or disguise in order to protect oneself
Is Evolution Involved in
Camouflage?
• In nature, every advantage increases an animal’s

chance of survival, causing animal species to evolve
over a number of years with special adaptations,
What Are Some Animals That
Use Camouflage?
• Whale, owl, chameleon, insects, octopus, butterfly,
snake, spider, leafy sea dragon, phasmids, leopard,
tiger, zebra, fish, fresh crab, brown looper moth, crab
spider, green tree pit viper, western fence lizard,
mountain hare
Types of Camouflage
• There are many different types of camouflage

• Some animals use more than one type of camouflage
• Most common type of camouflage is background
matching
Background Matching
• Examples
• A fox’s white fur matches the arctic tundra to avoid being
detected
• A leaf insect mimics the movements of the leaves to avoid
being detected
Disruptive Coloration
• When animals disguise their identification and location
through color patterns
• Example
• The owl butterfly has what looks like owl eyes on it’s wings,
making predators think they are looking at a owl’s face
instead of the back side of a butterfly
Mimicry
• Example
• The nonvenomous scarlet king snake mimics the color
patterns of a deadly coral snake as a way to avoid danger
Countershading
• Used by animals with a dark top half and a light lower
half
• For example, when an orca is seen from above, it
blends in with the darker ocean below, becoming
invisible. Prey fish also may not notice orcas when
looking at them from below as the orca’s lighter side of
it’s body blends in with the surface water.
Olfactory Camouflage
• Involves smell instead of color
• Some animals can cover up their own smell and mask
themselves in another species’ smell to avoid
predators
• For example, the California ground squirrel chews up
rattlesnake skin into a paste and applies it to it’s tail to
confuse rattlesnakes
Exhibit
How Do They Choose Which
Camouflage Tactic to Use?
• Animals with fur use different tactics than animals with
feathers and scales
• fur takes months to grow , while animals feathers and
scales can shed and change colors quickly
• Animals that live in groups use different tactics than
animals that are solitary
• For example, the black and white stripes of a zebra
herd creates a camouflage that confuses predators as
they can’t see where one zebras starts and ends
• A predator’s behavior or physical traits can help
How Does Camouflage Work?
• Pigments: some animals like octopuses have biochromes ,
microscopic pigments that absorb and reflect light to change the
actual color of the animals
• Physical structures: animals like polar bears have physical
structures in their hairs that work like prisms , scattering, light
of all colors, which we see as white
• Arctic fox change their camouflage with the seasons , they are
brown in the summer and white in the winter
• Octopuses camouflage themselves in response to a threat
• Nudibranchs , an ocean slug can change their skin coloration by
changing their diet
• Chameleons use several layers of skin that contain
chromatophores
Why Use Camouflage?
• There are three main uses for camouflage:

1. Warning camouflage, for example a chameleon does
not change color to hide but to warn other
chameleons
2. Predatory camouflage, for example a tiger’s stripes
make it blend in with the surrounding vegetation
3. Survival camouflage, for example a squirrel’s brown
fur blends in with brown bark on a tree
Chameleon
• It is a misconception that chameleons change their
color to match their background
• They change colors to regulate their temperature or to
communicate with other chameleons
• Since chameleons cannot generate their own body
heat, changing the color of their skin is a way to
maintain a favorable body temperature
• A cold chameleon will change to a dark color to absorb
heat and a hot chameleon to a lighter color to reflect
heat
• Chameleons also use colors to communicate
• An excited chameleon will turn red and a calmer
chameleon might turn green
How Does the Chameleon Change
Colors?
• The chameleon has layers of skin. The outer layer is
transparent. Under that is several more layers of skin
that contain specialized cells called chromatophores
• The chromatophores at each layer contain different
kinds of pigments
• The deepest layer contains melanophores, which are
filled with brown melanin
• Above that layer are cells called iridophores, which
have a blue pigment
• On top of that are cells called xanthophores and
erythrophores which contain yellow and red pigments
respectively
Do Plants Use Camouflage?
• Yes, plants use the same techniques as animals to

camouflage
• One species that uses masquerade camouflage is
corydalis hemidicentra , a plant whose leaves match
the color of the rocks where it grows
• Unlike animals, plants may be limited in their use of
camouflage by the fact that chlorophyll -which they
need to live via photosynthesis -is green
Who Else Uses Camouflage?
• The military: in war, military camouflage like clothes,

tanks even face paint is used to hide soldiers and their
equipment from the enemy
• Hunters: they use camouflage to stay hidden from wild
game
The Flip Side
• Albino wildlife are more vulnerable to predators

because they can not camouflage due to their inability
to produce melanin
• Plants that camouflage might be at a disadvantage as
they need chlorophyll (green ) to live
Conclusions
• I learned that there is not just one type of camouflage

but many and some animals use more than one type
• No matter big or small, fast or slow, any animal can
use camouflage
• Sometimes animals don’t use camouflage to hide but
to warn and help each other
References
• nationalgeographic.com
• wired.com
• Wild Kratts (PBS Kids)
• phys.org
• howstuffworks.com

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Now You See Me,

Now You Don’t

• In nature, every advantage increases an animal’s

• There are many different types of camouflage

• There are three main uses for camouflage:

• Yes, plants use the same techniques as animals to

• The military: in war, military camouflage like clothes,

• Albino wildlife are more vulnerable to predators

• I learned that there is not just one type of camouflage

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