%0 Journal Article %A Webster, Richard %A Hassall, Christopher %A Herdman, Chris %A Jean-Guy Godin %A Sherratt, Thomas %D 2014 %T Disruptive camouflage impairs object recognition %U https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Disruptive_camouflage_impairs_object_recognition/971409 %R 10.6084/m9.figshare.971409.v1 %2 https://ndownloader.figshare.com/files/1431819 %K camouflage %K eye-tracking %K moth %K tree %K crypsis %K psychology %K disruptive colouration %K predation %K Ecology %K Evolutionary Biology %X

Whether hiding from predators, or avoiding battlefield casualties, camouflage is widely employed to prevent detection. Disruptive coloration is a seemingly well-known camouflage mechanism proposed to function by breaking up an object's salient features (for example their characteristic outline), rendering objects more difficult to recognize. However, while a wide range of animals are thought to evade detection using disruptive patterns, there is no direct experimental evidence that disruptive coloration impairs recognition. Using humans searching for computer-generated moth targets, we demonstrate that the number of edge-intersecting patches on a target reduces the likelihood of it being detected, even at the expense of reduced background matching. Crucially, eye-tracking data show that targets with more edge-intersecting patches were looked at for longer periods prior to attack, and passed-over more frequently during search tasks. We therefore show directly that edge patches enhance survivorship by impairing recognition, confirming that disruptive coloration is a distinct camouflage strategy, not simply an artefact of background matching.

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