Abstract
Abstract Disruptive camouflage involves using coloration to hinder detection or recognition of an object’s outline, or other conspicuous features of its body. This involves using coloration to create ‘false’ edges that make the ‘true’ interior and exterior edges used by visual predators to find and recognize prey less apparent. Disruptive camouflage can therefore be thought of as a manipulation of the signal-to-noise ratio that depends on features of the perceptual processing of receivers. This chapter discusses the multiple mechanisms via which disruptive camouflage is thought to influence visual processing, from edge detection, through perceptual grouping, and then on to object recognition processing. This receiver-centred approach—rather than a prey-phenotype-centred approach—aims to integrate disruption within the sensory ecology of predator–prey interactions. We then discuss the taxonomic, ecological, and behavioural correlates of disruptive camouflage strategies, work on the relationship between disruption and other forms of protective coloration, and review the development of approaches to quantifying disruption in animals.
Published Version
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