Animal Camouflage

Mechanisms and Function

Martin Stevens editor Sami Merilaita editor

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Cambridge University Press

Published:7th Jul '11

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Animal Camouflage cover

Synthesises the current status of camouflage research and understanding, presenting recent developments and demonstrating the important problems that remain.

Using studies of real animals and artificial systems, this book synthesises the current state of play in camouflage research and understanding. Primary research and up-to-date reviews introduce the different types of camouflage, demonstrate the methodologies used to study them and discuss the exciting problems that remain to be solved.In the last decade, research on the previously dormant field of camouflage has advanced rapidly, with numerous studies challenging traditional concepts, investigating previously untested theories and incorporating a greater appreciation of the visual and cognitive systems of the observer. Using studies of both real animals and artificial systems, this book synthesises the current state of play in camouflage research and understanding. It introduces the different types of camouflage and how they work, including background matching, disruptive coloration and obliterative shading. It also demonstrates the methodologies used to study them and discusses how camouflage relates to other subjects, particularly with regard to what it can tell us about visual perception. The mixture of primary research and reviews shows students and researchers where the field currently stands and where exciting and important problems remain to be solved, illustrating how the study of camouflage is likely to progress in the future.

'… the broad overview on the functions and mechanisms of camouflage in various communication systems makes reading this book very enjoyable.' H. Martin Schaefer, Basic and Applied Ecology

ISBN: 9780521152570

Dimensions: 247mm x 174mm x 19mm

Weight: 760g

376 pages