Size-dependent misclassification of masquerading prey

Stachurski, John; Rowland, Hannah M.; Speed, Michael P.; Wert, Leoni De; Quinn, L.; Delf, Jon; Ruxton, Graeme D.

doi:10.1093/beheco/arq159

Cited by 36 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…The thought experiment here is that an animal that relies on crypsis must be on the right background, but a masquerading animal could be completely visible on a mismatching background, but still misclassified by a predator as ‘not food’. It is this difference that inspired Skelhorn and colleagues to perform a series of experiments where prior experience of what might or might not be food was manipulated (Skelhorn & Ruxton, , ; Skelhorn et al ., ,b). It may appear surprising that it took 120 years, from Poulton's illustrations of twig‐mimicking caterpillars, for the first systematic experiments on the basis of masquerade to be performed, but this is probably because the benefit for a caterpillar of looking like a twig seems self‐evident (‘A stick is a stick and not worth eating’; Robinson, ).…”

Section: Peeling the Onionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Camouflage

2019

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Animal camouflage has long been used to illustrate the power of natural selection, and provides an excellent testbed for investigating the trade‐offs affecting the adaptive value of colour. However, the contemporary study of camouflage extends beyond evolutionary biology, co‐opting knowledge, theory and methods from sensory biology, perceptual and cognitive psychology, computational neuroscience and engineering. This is because camouflage is an adaptation to the perception and cognition of the species (one or more) from which concealment is sought. I review the different ways in which camouflage manipulates and deceives perceptual and cognitive mechanisms, identifying how, and where in the sequence of signal processing, strategies such as transparency, background matching, disruptive coloration, distraction marks, countershading and masquerade have their effects. As such, understanding how camouflage evolves and functions not only requires an understanding of animal sensation and cognition, it sheds light on perception in other species.

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Section: Peeling the Onionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Camouflage

2019

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“…And studies of predator cognition provide strong support for these assumptions. Predators generalize their learned avoidance of inedible objects sufficiently widely to be fooled by imperfect masqueraders that possess qualities that predators could use to differentiate them from their inedible models [33]. Importantly, however, imperfect masqueraders do not fool predators to the same extent as individuals that more accurately resemble inedible models [33].…”

Section: Predator Cognition and The Evolution Of Masqueradementioning

confidence: 99%

Cognition and the evolution of camouflage

Stachurski

Rowe

2016

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Camouflage is one of the most widespread forms of anti-predator defence and prevents prey individuals from being detected or correctly recognized by would-be predators. Over the past decade, there has been a resurgence of interest in both the evolution of prey camouflage patterns, and in understanding animal cognition in a more ecological context. However, these fields rarely collide, and the role of cognition in the evolution of camouflage is poorly understood. Here, we review what we currently know about the role of both predator and prey cognition in the evolution of prey camouflage, outline why cognition may be an important selective pressure driving the evolution of camouflage and consider how studying the cognitive processes of animals may prove to be a useful tool to study the evolution of camouflage, and vice versa. In doing so, we highlight that we still have a lot to learn about the role of cognition in the evolution of camouflage and identify a number of avenues for future research.

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“…The defensive strategy known as masquerade, or camouflage without crypsis, has received very little scientific attention in animals (e.g. Allen & Cooper, ; Ruxton, Sherratt & Speed, ; Skelhorn, Rowland & Ruxton, ; Skelhorn et al ., 2010b, c), and concerning plants practically none. Masquerade by animals is a situation when a prey resembles inedible objects such as leaves, twigs, stones or bird‐droppings.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Defensive masquerade by plants

Lev‐Yadun

2014

Biol J Linn Soc Lond

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The defensive strategy known as masquerade, or camouflage without crypsis (a type of deception that partly overlaps mimicry) has received little scientific attention in animals, and concerning plants even less. Moreover, when cases of masquerade were described in plants, they were considered as camouflage or other types of defence through mimicry. Masquerade (including in plants) may operate not only through vision, but also via other senses. Here I review several types of published cases of masquerade in plants, although they were not defined as such when published, and propose that there are two different types of masquerade in plants: (1) non-plant-mimicking defensive masquerade, in which they look (or smell) like uninteresting objects to herbivores (look like a stone or an animal, or smell like droppings or carrion, etc.), and (2) plant-mimicking defensive masquerade, in which plants or plant parts do not look appealing for herbivores, not being green, looking dead or old, harbouring insects, already attacked, less nutritious, etc. Defensive masquerade by plants may in many cases be non-exclusive, but serve additional physiological and defensive functions or operate simultaneously with other defences.

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Size-dependent misclassification of masquerading prey

Cited by 36 publications

References 17 publications

Camouflage

Camouflage

Cognition and the evolution of camouflage

Defensive masquerade by plants

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