camouflage: Definition, Synonyms from Answers.com

Camouflage (from Fr.: camoufler, to veil). In Russian the word is maskirovka, meaning ‘to deceive’, and that is the name of the game. Considering how thoroughly it permeates the natural world, it is astonishing how long it took armies to get serious about camouflage. Whether predator or prey, or both as is usually the case, animals have evolved a bewildering range of survival strategies in which shape and colour are used to conceal, to warn, and to pretend to be something they are not. Had warfare developed simply from hunting, camouflage might have developed along with it, but with the exception of green uniforms among British rifle regiments in North America and German Jägers, the trend was in the opposite direction, with uniforms reaching a peak of gorgeousness shortly before breech-loading rifles doomed the practice.

To understand why some armies persisted in making themselves conspicuous even well into WW I, one must look to the other natural use of extravagant shapes and colouring, sexual advertising, which is an almost exclusively male preserve. This becomes even more intriguing when considered in combination with, for example, the mainly symbolic bayonet. But that is to digress. Camouflage as traditionally understood is used to veil and to deceive, and the fathers of modern military camouflage were zoologists and illustrators, Abbott Thayer in the USA and John Kerr in Britain. They applied the lessons of animal protective colouring to warfare, the former going so far as to argue that all animal markings, no matter how conspicuous, served the purpose of concealment.

Serendipitously during the period 1900-14, artists identifying themselves as Cubists and Vorticists were moving away from representational illustration towards abstraction, stressing structural form, shape, and colour as a means of interpreting an object. Their philosophy found expression in the ‘dazzle’ painting of ships, developed by Thayer and Kerr during WW I. US and British warships began to make a bizarre appearance with angular patterns in primary colours painted on their hulls. Kerr conceived the idea of painting a ship with a false perspective, to distort the vessel's true course and speed, making it hard for a prowling U-boat to aim a torpedo correctly. Other schemes incorporated fake bow waves or raised waterlines, designed to complicate calculation of a ship's speed or range. There is little evidence that it worked. Nonetheless, in both countries, artists were recruited to aid this work, and Cubists and Vorticists found larger canvases on which to paint. One leading Vorticist, Edward Wadsworth, supervised the camouflage of over two thousand warships, and his post-war canvases celebrated his dazzling ships. The trend continued in WW II when the naturalist and artist Sir Peter Scott devised several dazzle colour schemes for the Royal Navy.

Personal camouflage began to be widespread with the adoption of khaki by the British army in India, becoming standard after the First Boer War had underlined the disadvantage of a scarlet jacket when fighting men who could shoot. The Germans replaced Prussian blue with field grey (grey-green) and the Russians replaced dark green with a greyish brown. French troops continued to wear the red trousers and blue coats, their cuirassiers still wearing the shining breastplates of a century earlier. Casualty lists were an excellent argument for change, but it was the advent of aerial reconnaissance that led to ever-wider applications of the art of camouflage.

The first section de camouflage in military history was established in 1915 by the French, under the command of a painter, and thereafter comparable units were used by all the combatants. These advised on how to break up the shape of objects and experimented with colour schemes. This coincided with several new arrivals on the battlefield, including tanks, which required deception and concealment to a high degree. By 1918, the use of military camouflage was axiomatic, and in 1939 war artists were again mobilized to advise on concealment. The colouring of aircraft cycled rapidly through the concealment-advertising-concealment process, the German fighter squadron of WW I taking personal adornment to a browbeating extreme. During WW II the pattern of irregular earth tones above and light blue-grey underneath became a standard, shelved by the USAAF once air superiority was achieved in late 1944, and its aircraft flew in bare polished metal, saving time in the manufacturing process and operational weight.

Apart from the wearing of white by arctic and mountain troops, which began much earlier, smocks using disruptive patterns worn over normal battledress were first used by SS troops invading the USSR in 1941. The British Denison smock, worn by paratroopers was similar. The Germans developed a wide range of camouflage suits designed for a variety of specific environments, but whether these were for concealment or as an expression of élite troops' desire to set themselves apart is open to debate. The US army attempted to introduce a camouflage suit in Normandy, but it was withdrawn because Allied troops had become used to the fact that only the Germans wore camouflage.

Nearly every army in the world now has a distinctive camouflage uniform of its own, which is worn as often in barracks as in the field. Some designs are durable—Germany has readopted the basic pattern it used in the closing months of WW II—while most are distinctive, and it is now possible to recognize the nationality of a soldier by his camouflage. The counter-indicated use of camouflage smocks in the streets of Northern Ireland is merely the latest example of the conflict between the soldier's desire not to attract hostile attention and his wish to set himself apart as the epitome of manhood. In this respect skin camouflage also serves a dual function, both as warpaint and as a response to the practical need to disrupt tell-tale faces and hands with specialist camouflage cream made by cosmetics manufacturers.

The advent of radar, infra-red (IR), and satellite detection has lessened the importance of merely visual camouflage, while heightening the need to extend deception into the non-visual spectrum by heat dispersion and concealment and the use of countermeasures such as electronic jamming, spoofing, and flares to attract IR guided missiles. The latter category had its first military application in the bold noise-makers ejected by U-boats when the pinging of sonar indicated that those on the surface were coming too close. Stealth technology—low observability in whatever spectrum—may be considered the culmination of the art.

Bibliography

Cruickshank, Charles, Deception in WW II (Oxford, 1979).
Reit, Seymour, Masquerade (London, 1979)

— Peter Caddick-Adams

This article is about protective coloration. For other uses, see Camouflage (disambiguation).

A disruptively patterned Flounder blending in with gravel on sea floor

Camouflage is a method of concealment that allows an otherwise visible animal, military vehicle, or other object to remain unnoticed by blending with its environment. Examples include a leopard's spotted coat, the battledress of a modern soldier and a leaf-mimic butterfly. Camouflage is a form of visual deception; the term probably comes from camouflet, a French term meaning smoke blown in someone's face as a practical joke.^[1] Military camouflage is part of a broad area of deception and concealment from all means of detection including sound and radar, and involving non-camouflage techniques such as use of decoys and electronic jamming.^[2]^[3]

According to Charles Darwin's theory of Natural Selection, characteristics such as camouflage that help an animal to survive will tend to evolve in any population.^[4]

Camouflage, whether in animals or in military use, can be achieved in different ways, including the apparent opposites Mimesis—being seen, but resembling something else, and Crypsis—being hidden.^[5] In both cases, however, camouflage is achieved not by actual invisibility, but by not being noticed. A third approach, Dazzle, found military application in the 20th century.

Camouflage is not the only form of Animal coloration that helps animals to survive. Other adaptations include Warning coloration, non-concealing forms of Mimicry (as when a harmless Hoverfly resembles a stinging Wasp), the use of bright colours in Sexual selection, and the use of pigment in the skin to protect against sunburn.

Camouflage by mimesis

Further information: Mimicry

In Mimesis (also called Masquerade), the whole animal (or piece of military equipment) looks like some other object, which is of no special interest to the observing animal or enemy. ^[6]^:512,513 Mimesis is common in prey animals, for example when a Peppered Moth caterpillar mimics a twig, or a grasshopper mimics a dry leaf.^[5]^:151

Mimesis is also employed by some predators (or parasites) to lure their prey, for example, a flower mantis mimics a particular kind of flower, such as an orchid^[5]^:134

A different, non-camouflage strategy is Mimicry, where an animal boldly resembles another animal, typically one that is poisonous or distasteful: it is then easily seen, but avoided.^[5]^:6-42

Peppered Moth caterpillars are superb twig mimics on birch (left) and willow (right) branches
Flower Mantis lures its insect prey by mimicking a Phalaenopsis orchid blossom
Hooded Grasshopper Teratodus monticollis, superbly mimics a leaf with a bright orange border
This Grasshopper hides from predators by mimicking a dry leaf
WWII Battle Tank hides from the enemy by mimicking a truck

Camouflage by crypsis

General resemblance to background

Some animals' colors and patterns resemble a particular natural background, for example the Peppered Moth adult blends in with tree bark.^[7]

Disruptive patterning

Some animals, whether predators or prey, have disruptive patterns that help to achieve crypsis by breaking up their outlines with strongly-contrasting markings, for example in the Leopard.^[8] Disruptive patterns "are characterized by high-contrast light and dark patches, in a nonrepetitive configuration, that also provide camouflage by disrupting the recognizable shape or orientation of the animal".^[9]

Leopard: a disruptively camouflaged (and countershaded) predator
The Egyptian Nightjar nests in open sand with only its disruptive plumage to protect it
Papuan Frogmouth Podargus papuensis, superbly disruptive
Jumping Spider: a disruptively camouflaged invertebrate predator
A soldier applying a disruptive pattern to his face; his helmet and jacket are both disruptively patterned

Further information: List of camouflage patterns, Disruptive pattern material, and Military camouflage

Disruptive patterning is now common in military usage, both for uniforms and for military vehicles. Disruptive patterning, however, does not always achieve crypsis on its own, as an animal or a military target may be given away by other factors including shape, shine, and shadow.^[10]

Eliminating shadow

Some animals, such as the Horned Lizards of North America, have evolved elaborate measures to eliminate shadow: their bodies are flattened, with the sides thinning to an edge; the animals habitually press their bodies to the ground; and their sides are fringed with white scales which "break up and camouflage any dark shadow line that might fall along the body's edge."^[11] The theory that the body shape of the Horned Lizards which live in open desert is adapted to minimize shadow is supported by the one species which lacks fringe scales, "perhaps the exception that proves the rule": the Roundtail Horned Lizard, which lives in rocky areas and resembles a rock. "When threatened, it enhances this resemblance by hunching up its back, an act that displays rather than hides its three-dimensionality."^[11]

"Elimination of shadow" was identified as a principle of military camouflage during the Second World War.^[12]

Three countershaded and cryptically coloured Ibex almost invisible in the Israeli desert
"Shape, shine, shadow" make these 'camouflaged' military vehicles easily visible
The Flat-tail Horned Lizard's body is flattened and fringed to minimise its shadow
Camouflage netting is draped away from a military vehicle to reduce its shadow

Crypsis by behaviour

Decoration, keeping still, lying flat

Some animals actively seek to make themselves cryptic by using materials from their environment, such as twigs, sand, or pieces of shell to conceal their outlines, for example when a Caddis Fly larva builds a decorated case, or when a Decorator Crab covers its back with seaweed, sponges and stones.^[5] Most other forms of crypsis also require some animal behaviour, e.g., keeping still, lying flat, as in the Flat-tail Horned Lizard,^[13] or swaying as if rippled by wind or water currents, as in the Leafy Sea Dragon.^[14]

Similar principles can be applied for military purposes, for example when a Sniper wears a Ghillie suit designed to be further camouflaged by decoration with materials such as tufts of grass from the sniper's immediate environment.

Sniper camouflaged with a Ghillie suit and plant materials from the environment
Crab camouflaged with algae from the environment
Leafy Sea Dragon camouflaged by pattern, shape, colour and swaying like the seaweed that it mimics

Motion camouflage

Most forms of camouflage break down when the camouflaged animal or object moves, because the motion is easily seen by the observing predator, prey or enemy.^[15] However, some insects such as hoverflies^[16] and dragonflies use Motion camouflage, the hoverflies to approach possible mates, and the dragonflies to approach rivals when defending territories. ^[17]^[18] Motion camouflage is achieved by moving so as to stay on a straight line between the target and a fixed point in the landscape; the pursuer thus appears not to move, but only to loom larger in the target's field of vision. Numerical simulations show that motion camouflage can be more efficient than classical pursuit (moving straight towards the target at all times).^[19] The same technique could be used for military purposes, for example by missiles to minimise their risk of detection by the enemy.^[16]

Male Syritta pipiens hoverflies use motion camouflage to approach females
Male Australian Emperor dragonflies use motion camouflage to approach rivals

Crypsis by changing skin pattern, colour

Further information: Animal coloration and Category:Animals that can change color

Animals such as chameleon, flatfish, squid or octopus actively and rapidly change their skin patterns and colours using special chromatophore cells to resemble whatever background they are currently resting on (as well as for signalling).^[5]^[20]

On a longer timescale, some animals like the Arctic hare, Arctic fox, Stoat (also called Ermine), and Ptarmigan change their coat colour (by moulting and growing new fur or feathers) from brown or grey in the summer to white in the winter; the Arctic fox is the only species in the dog family (Canidae) to do so.^[21] However, Arctic hares which live in the far north of Canada, where summer is very short, remain white all year round.^[21]^[22]

Again, similar principles can be applied for military purposes. Active camouflage could in theory make use of both dynamic colour change and counterillumination. Simpler techniques such as changing uniforms and repainting vehicles for winter have been in use since the Second World War.

Rock Ptarmigan, changing colour in springtime. The male is still mostly in winter plumage
Soldiers change uniforms to snow camouflage in winter
Arctic Hares in the Low arctic change from brown to white in winter
Snow-camouflaged German vehicles in Russia, October 1941

Crypsis by countershading

Main article: Countershading

Countershading uses graded colour to create the illusion of flatness. Shadow makes an animal lightest on top, darkest below; countershading 'paints in' tones which are darkest on top, lightest below, making the countershaded animal nearly invisible against a matching background.^[23] American artist Abbott Handerson Thayer's observation that "Animals are painted by Nature, darkest on those parts which tend to be most lighted by the sky's light, and vice versa" is called Thayer's Law.^[24]

Countershading is widely used by both terrestrial and marine animals. Examples include deer and sharks.

Countershading is relatively seldom used for military camouflage, despite Second World War experiments that demonstrated its effectiveness. English Zoologist Hugh B. Cott encouraged the use of techniques including countershading to provide effective concealment, observing that soldiers viewed camouflage netting as "some kind of invisibility cloak: just throw it over the truck and now you don't see it", as Peter Forbes comments.^[25] At the same time in Australia, zoologist William John Dakin advised soldiers to copy animals' methods, using their instincts for wartime camouflage.^[26]

Countershaded Reef Shark, Carcharhinus amblyrynchos
Countershaded US Navy Vigilante aircraft in jungle colours

Crypsis by counterillumination

Main article: Counter-illumination

Counterillumination means producing light to match the background, notably in some species of Squid, such as the Sparkling Enope Squid (Watasenia scintillans) and the Midwater Squid (Abralia veranyi). Abralia has light-producing organs (photophores) scattered all over its underside; these create a sparkling glow that prevents the animal from appearing as a dark shape when seen from below.^[27]

Counterillumination is the likely function of the bioluminescence of many marine organisms, though light is also produced to attract prey and for signalling.

Counterillumination has rarely been used for military purposes. Diffused lighting camouflage, in which light was projected on to the sides of ships to match the faint glow of the night sky, was trialled by Canada's National Research Council during World War II. The Canadian concept was trialled in American aircraft including B-24 Liberators, using forward-pointing lamps automatically adjusted to match the brightness of the sky.^[28]

The Sparkling Enope Squid uses Bioluminescence to make its underside as bright as the sea surface above it
Forward-looking Counterillumination camouflage was trialled in B-24 Liberators from 1943 onwards

Dazzle patterning

Further information: Military camouflage, Dazzle camouflage, and Ship camouflage

Most forms of camouflage are made ineffective by movement: a deer or grasshopper may be highly cryptic when motionless, but instantly seen when it moves. But one form of 'camouflage' works only when in motion: dazzle patterning.^[29]

Military dazzle 'camouflage'

Dazzle patterning superficially resembles disruptive patterning, but has a different purpose. It was used on ships during the First World War, not to make vessels hard to see, but to make their speed, size, range and direction difficult to ascertain by eye.^[30] Dazzle patterning is therefore arguably (by definition) not camouflage, though it has been called camouflage since the First World War.^[31]^[30] Non-aligning dazzle patterns may have helped to confuse gunners using optical rangefinders, where two halves of the image had to be aligned by eye to estimate the range to the target ship. However the evidence for its success in naval warfare is mixed.^[30] Remarkably, some United States Navy camouflage schemes in World War II attempted to combine disruptive camouflage and dazzle.^[32]

Motion dazzle

Motion dazzle is caused by rapidly-moving bold patterns of contrasting stripes, as when zebras run from a lion. Motion dazzle may degrade predators' ability to estimate the prey's speed and direction accurately, giving the prey an improved chance of escape. ^[31] Motion dazzle distorts speed perception, and is most effective at high speeds; stripes can also distort perception of size (and so, perceived range to the target).^[29] Since dazzle patterns (such as a zebra's stripes) make animals more difficult to locate accurately when moving, but easier to see when stationary, there is an evolutionary trade-off between dazzle and crypsis. ^[31]

A troopship painted with Dazzle camouflage to confuse enemy gunners as to her speed, direction, and range
The zebra's bold pattern may momentarily confuse predators, especially when many animals are close together and moving rapidly

References

^ "Definition of camouflet". http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=camouflet.
^ U. S. War Department (1944). FM 5-20, CAMOUFLAGE. http://cartome.org/fm5-20-toc.htm.
^ Department of the Army (30 August 1999). Field Manual Headquarters No. 20-3. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/20-3/toc.htm.
^ Charles Darwin. (1859) On the Origin of Species. London.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Forbes, P. 2009 p. 50-51
^ Gullan, PJ and PS Cranston (4th Edition, 2010). The Insects. John Wiley, Blackwell. ISBN 978-1444330366. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=S7yGZasJ7nEC&pg=PA512#v=onepage&q&f=false.
^ Still, John (1996). Collins Wild Guide: Butterflies and Moths. HarperCollins. pp. 158. ISBN 978 0 00 2200104.
^ Stevens, Martin; Innes C Cuthill; Amy M.M Windsor; Hannah J Walker (October 7 2006). "Disruptive contrast in animal camouflage". Proceedings of the Royal Society B 273 (1600): 2433–2436. doi:10.1098/rspb.2006.3614. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1634902/.
^ Barbosa, Alexandra; and Lydia M. Mathger, Kendra C. Buresch, Jennifer Kelly, Charles Chubb, Chuan-Chin Chiao, Roger T. Hanlon (2008). "Cuttlefish camouflage: The effects of substrate contrast and size in evoking uniform, mottle or disruptive body patterns". Vision Research 48: 1242–1253. http://www.mbl.edu/mrc/hanlon/pdfs/barbosa_et_al_vis08.pdf.
^ Sweet, Kathleen M. (2006). Transportation and Cargo Security: Threats and Solutions. Prentice Hall. pp. 219.
^ ^a ^b Sherbrooke, Wade C. (2003). Introduction to horned lizards of North America. University of California Press. pp. 117–8. ISBN 978-0520228252. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=zXlLdu3956gC&pg=PA118&lpg.
^ (U.S. War Department) (November 4 1943). "Principles of Camouflage". Tactical and Technical Trends (37). http://www.lonesentry.com/articles/ttt09/camouflage.html.
^ "Horned Lizard Conservation Society". What is a Horned Lizard?. hornedlizards.org. http://www.hornedlizards.org/hornedlizards/hornedlizards_frame.html. Retrieved December 21, 2011.
^ "Leafy Sea Dragon". The fish that looks like a plant. WWF. http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/teacher_resources/best_place_species/current_top_10/leafy_sea_dragon.cfm. Retrieved December 21, 2011.
^ Cott, H.B. 1940. pages 141-143.
^ ^a ^b Srinivasan, M. V. & Davey, M. (1995). "Strategies for active camouflage of motion". Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 259: 19–25. http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/259/1354/19.short.
^ Hopkin, Michael (June 5, 2003). "Nature News". Dragonfly flight tricks the eye. Nature.com. http://www.nature.com/news/2003/030605/full/news030602-10.html. Retrieved January 16, 2012.
^ Mizutani, A. K., Chahl, J. S. & Srinivasan, M. V. (June 5 2003). "Insect behaviour: Motion camouflage in dragonflies". Nature 65 (423): 604. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v423/n6940/full/423604a.html.
^ Glendinning, Paul (27 January 2004). "Motion Camouflage". The mathematics of motion camouflage. The Royal Society. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1691618/pdf/15129957.pdf. Retrieved November 25, 2011.
^ Wallin, Margareta (2002). "Nature's Palette". Nature's Palette: How animals, including humans, produce colours. Bioscience-explained.org. pp. Vol 1, No 2, pages 1–12. http://www.bioscience-explained.org/ENvol1_2/pdf/paletteEN.pdf. Retrieved November 17, 2011.
^ ^a ^b "Arctic Wildlife". Arctic Wildlife. Churchill Polar Bears. 2011. http://churchillpolarbears.org/churchill/arctic-wildlife. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
^ "A hare of a different color". How Arctic Hares have adapted to Gros Morne National Park of Canada. Parks Canada. January 29, 2007. http://www.pc.gc.ca/canada/pn-tfn/itm2-/2007/2007-01-29_e.asp. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
^ Cott, H. B. 1940
^ Forbes, P. 2009 p. 72-3
^ Peter Forbes, 2009, page 152.
^ Elias, Ann,"'Camouflage Australia: Art, Nature, Science and War'". http://purl.library.usyd.edu.au/sup/9781920899738. (Sydney: "Sydney University Press". http://sydney.edu.au/sup/. , 2011), pp. 57-66.
^ "Midwater Squid, Abralia veranyi". Midwater Squid, Abralia veranyi (with photograph). Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. http://ocean.si.edu/ocean-photos/midwater-squid-abralia-veranyi. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
^ "Naval Museum of Quebec". Diffused Lighting and its use in the Chaleur Bay. Royal Canadian Navy. http://www.navy.forces.gc.ca/navres/10/10-n_eng.asp?category=183&title=1587. Retrieved January 19, 2012.
^ ^a ^b Scott-Samuel, Nicholas E; Baddeley, Roland; Palmer, Chloe E; Cuthill, Innes C (June 2011). "Dazzle Camouflage Affects Speed Perception". PLoS ONE 6 (6). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0020233. http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0020233.
^ ^a ^b ^c Behrens, Roy R. False Colors: Art, Design, and Modern Camouflage. Bobolink Books, 2003.
^ ^a ^b ^c Martin Stevens, William TL Searle, Jenny E Seymour, Kate LA Marshall, Graeme D Ruxton (25 November 2011). "BMC Biology: Motion dazzle". Motion dazzle and camouflage as distinct anti-predator defenses. BMC Biology. pp. 9:81. doi:10.1186/1741-7007-9-81. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/9/81/abstract. Retrieved November 27, 2011.
^ Sumrall, Robert F. "Ship Camouflage (WWII): Deceptive Art" United States Naval Institute Proceedings February 1973 pp.67–81

Bibliography

Camouflage in nature

Pioneering research

Cott, Hugh. Adaptive Coloration in Animals. Methuen, London, 1940.
Darwin, Charles. (1859) On the Origin of Species. London. Reprinted 1985, Penguin Classics, Harmondsworth.
Poulton, Edward B. The Colours of Animals: their meaning and use, especially considered in the case of insects. London, 1890.
Thayer, Abbott H. and G. H. Thayer. Concealing Colouration in the Animal Kingdom. New York, 1909.

Recent research

Stevens, Martin and and Sami Merilaita (editors). Animal Camouflage: Mechanisms and Function. Cambridge University Press, 2011.
Stevens, Martin and Innes C Cuthill, Amy M.M Windsor, and Hannah J Walker, Disruptive contrast in animal camouflage. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 2006 October 7; 273(1600): 2433–2438. Published online 2006 July 5. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2006.3614 Whole Text

General reading

Behrens, Roy R. False Colors: Art, Design and Modern Camouflage. Bobolink Books, 2002. ISBN 0-97132-440-9.
Behrens, Roy R. Camoupedia: A Compendium of Research on Art, Architecture and Camouflage. Bobolink Books, 2009. ISBN 978-0-9713244-6-8.
Elias, Ann. Camouflage Australia: Art, Nature, Science and War. Sydney University Press, 2011. ISBN 9781920899738.
Forbes, Peter. Dazzled and Deceived: Mimicry and Camouflage. Yale, 2009.
Wickler, W. Mimicry in plants and animals. McGraw-Hill, 1968.

Children's books

Kalman, B. and J. Crossingham. What are Camouflage and Mimicry?. Crabtree Publishing. (ages 4-8)
Mettler, Rene. Animal Camouflage. Moonlight Publishing. First Discovery series, 2001. (ages 4-8)

Military camouflage

Behrens, Roy R., ed. Ship Shape: A Dazzle Camouflage Sourcebook. Bobolink Books, 2012. ISBN 978-0-9713244-7-3.
Gooden, Henrietta. Camouflage and Art: Design for Deception in World War 2. Unicorn Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-906290-87-2.
Latimer, Jon. Deception in War. John Murray, 2001.
Newark, Tim. Camouflage. Thames and Hudson, with Imperial War Museum, 2007. ISBN 978-0-500-51347-7.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Camouflage

Marine Biological Laboratory: Roger Hanlon - videos, photographs, research bibliography
Roy R. Behrens, "The Thinking Eye: a Chronology of Camouflage" 2006
"An informal study into camouflage"
Octopus camouflage video

Articles related to camouflage

v d e Vision and animals

Vision	Birds Cats Dinosaurs Dogs Fish Horses Toads

Eyes	Arthropod eye Eye shine Simple eye in invertebrates Mammalian eye Human eye Mollusc eye Cephalopod eye Gastropod eye Parietal eye

Evolution	Evolution of the eye Evolution of color vision Evolution of color vision in primates

Coloration	Animal coloration Aposematism Camouflage Chromatophore Counter-illumination Countershading Crypsis Eyespot (mimicry) Underwater camouflage and mimicry

Related topics	Blind animals Eyespot apparatus Feature detection Infrared sensing in snakes Mimicry Monocular deprivation Underwater vision

Animal senses Visual perception

v d e Modelling ecosystems – trophic components

General	Abiotic component Abiotic stress Behaviour Biogeochemical cycle Biomass Biotic component Biotic stress Carrying capacity Competition Ecosystem Ecosystem ecology Ecosystem model Keystone species List of feeding behaviours Metabolic theory of ecology Productivity

Producers	Autotrophs Chemosynthesis Chemotrophs Foundation species Mixotrophs Myco-heterotrophy Mycotroph Organotrophs Photoheterotrophs Photosynthesis Photosynthetic efficiency Phototrophs Primary nutritional groups Primary production

Consumers	Apex predator Bacterivore Carnivores Chemoorganotroph Foraging Generalist and specialist species Intraguild predation Herbivores Heterotroph Heterotrophic nutrition Insectivore Mesopredator release hypothesis Omnivores Optimal foraging theory Predation Prey switching

Decomposers	Chemoorganoheterotrophy Decomposition Detritivores Detritus

Microorganisms	Archaea Bacteriophage Environmental microbiology Lithoautotroph Lithotrophy Microbial cooperation Microbial ecology Microbial food web Microbial intelligence Microbial loop Microbial mat Microbial metabolism Phage ecology

Food webs	Biomagnification Ecological efficiency Ecological pyramid Energy flow Food chain Trophic level

Example webs	Cold seeps Hydrothermal vents Intertidal Kelp forests Lakes North Pacific Subtropical Gyre Rivers San Francisco Estuary Soil Tidal pool

Processes	Ascendency Bioaccumulation Cascade effect Climax community Competitive exclusion principle Consumer-resource systems Copiotrophs Dominance Ecological network Ecological succession Energy quality Energy Systems Language f-ratio Feed conversion ratio Feeding frenzy Mesotrophic soil Nutrient cycle Oligotroph Paradox of the plankton Trophic cascade Trophic mutualism Trophic state index

Defense/counter	Animal coloration Antipredator adaptations Camouflage Herbivore adaptations to plant defense Mimicry Plant defense against herbivory Predator avoidance in schooling fish

v d e Modelling ecosystems – other components

Population ecology	Abundance Allee effect Depensation Ecological yield Effective population size Intraspecific competition Logistic function Malthusian growth model Maximum sustainable yield Overpopulation in wild animals Overexploitation Population cycle Population dynamics Population modeling Population size Predator–prey equations Recruitment Resilience Small population size Stability

Species	Biodiversity Density-dependent inhibition Ecological effects of biodiversity Ecological extinction Endemic species Flagship species Gradient analysis Indicator species Introduced species Invasive species Latitudinal gradients in species diversity Minimum viable population Neutral theory Occupancy-abundance relationship Population viability analysis Priority effect Rapoport's rule Relative abundance distribution Relative species abundance Species diversity Species homogeneity Species richness Species distribution Species-area curve Umbrella species

Species interaction	Antibiosis Biological interaction Commensalism Community ecology Ecological facilitation Interspecific competition Mutualism Storage effect

Spatial ecology	Biogeography Cross-boundary subsidy Ecocline Ecotone Ecotype Disturbance Edge effect Foster's rule Habitat fragmentation Ideal free distribution Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis Island biogeography Landscape ecology Landscape epidemiology Landscape limnology Metapopulation Patch dynamics r/K selection theory Source–sink dynamics

Niche	Ecological niche Ecological trap Ecosystem engineer Environmental niche modelling Guild Habitat Limiting similarity Niche apportionment models Niche construction Niche differentiation

Other networks	Assembly rules Bateman's principle Bioluminescence Ecological collapse Ecological debt Ecological deficit Ecological energetics Ecological indicator Ecological threshold Ecosystem diversity Emergence Extinction debt Kleiber's law Liebig's law of the minimum Marginal value theorem Thorson's rule Xerosere

Other	Allometry Alternative stable state Balance of nature Biological data visualization Constructal theory Ecocline Ecological economics Ecological footprint Ecological forecasting Ecological humanities Ecological stoichiometry Ecopath Ecosystem based fisheries Endolith Evolutionary ecology Functional ecology Industrial ecology Macroecology Microecosystem Natural environment Systems ecology Theoretical ecology

List of ecology topics

v d e Evolutionary ecology

Patterns of evolution	Convergent evolution (List) · Parallel evolution · Divergent evolution

Signals	Antipredator adaptation · Aposematism · Mimicry · Camouflage · Unkenreflex

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camouflage

cam·ou·flage

camouflage

camouflage

camouflage

camouflage

camouflage

camouflage

camouflage

camouflage

categories related to 'camouflage'

camouflage

camouflage

Camouflage

Camouflage by mimesis

Camouflage by crypsis

General resemblance to background

Disruptive patterning

Eliminating shadow

Crypsis by behaviour

Decoration, keeping still, lying flat

Motion camouflage

Crypsis by changing skin pattern, colour

Crypsis by countershading

Crypsis by counterillumination

Dazzle patterning

Military dazzle 'camouflage'

Motion dazzle

See also

References

Bibliography

Camouflage in nature

Pioneering research

Recent research

General reading

Children's books

Military camouflage

External links

Camouflage

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