Disruptive coloration, crypsis and edge detection in early visual processing.

ABSTRACT: Many animals use concealing markings to reduce the risk of predation. These include background pattern matching (crypsis), where the coloration matches a random sample of the background and disruptive patterns, whose effectiveness has been hypothesized to lie in breaking up the body into a series of apparently unrelated objects. We have previously established the effectiveness of disruptive coloration against avian predators, using artificial moth-like stimuli with colours designed to match natural backgrounds as perceived by birds. Here, we investigate the mechanism by which disruptive patterns reduce detectability, using a computational vision model of edge detection applied to photographs of our experimental stimuli, calibrated for bird colour vision. We show that, disruptive coloration

SUBMITTER: Stevens M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1635512 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature