Some squids emit light from their bodies in order to get lost in the sunlight falling from above. This makes them almost invisible from below. Colors are much more important in the animal world than appearance.
In fact, most animals are partially colorblind. Animals can use colors to flirt, to give a friendly greeting, and even to defend themselves. Animal colors can serve as life-saving camouflage cell phone and even sunscreen.
Coloration and evolution
Color is the most visible expression of an organism's genetics. After several millions of evolution, most animals have acquired the colors most suitable for their natural habitat and the role they perform in the food chain.
During evolution, color mutations could only persist if they were beneficial in some way. Almost every animal and even plant on our planet relies on its coloration to protect itself from predators, watch for prey, or attract members of the opposite sex.
Protective coloration can act in several ways: serve as protective camouflage against predators, or be used as a warning or distraction.
Coloring as protective camouflage against predators
A huge number of animals use their coloring to blend in with their environment. Thus, animals living in trees may be colored to match the color of the bark or have body patterns that help them get lost in the foliage. Land animals often have a gray-brown coloration, which helps them move undetected on the ground. The body of animals living among the snow is often covered with white fur, which helps them become invisible against a white background. Many animals living in the jungle have spotted colors. This protective coloration is also known as cryptic coloration. Let's now look at the most interesting animals that use cryptic coloration.
Animals with cryptic coloration
These incredible creatures perhaps have the best protective coloring. Tiny seahorses, just one and a half centimeters long, blend perfectly into their natural habitat, coral reefs, taking advantage of both their size and their amazing colors. Pygmy seahorses were discovered by chance on corals that were caught for study.
This fantastic South American bird is yet another camouflage expert in the animal kingdom. The feather pattern of these birds looks like dried bark and branches, providing them with excellent shelter. Wood nightjars spend most of the day sitting on branches, revealing themselves only when they open their beaks or flap their wings to fly off into the darkness in search of insects.
Whitelegs are related to nightjars, and they use the same tactics for defense. The color of the plumage of gigantic white-footed animals matches perfectly with the trees on which they sit, which makes it very difficult for predators to find them.
Common nightjar
Related to the forest nightjars and giant white-footed nightjars, common nightjars are usually brown-black in color, which camouflages them well in ground nests.
Owl
Owls are nocturnal predators that spend most of the day hiding in hollows. Their plumage blends into the tree and in the daytime it is very difficult to distinguish them against the background of the tree.
This graceful miracle of nature spends most of its time in a tree, and there is a good reason for this. This striking green snake blends effortlessly into the foliage, making it virtually invisible until it begins to move slowly.
This predatory insect hides in the green grass, patiently waiting for its victim, delivering a fatal blow at the most opportune moment.
Ryabok
These ground-dwelling birds are colored brown to help them hide in their sandy habitat.
Caterpillar
Caterpillars use two types of coloring: protective coloring and warning coloring. Many caterpillars are colored just like the plants they live on, making them difficult for birds and other predators to see.
Crocodile
In muddy rivers, the habitat of crocodiles, these predators lie motionless, waiting for their prey, which often mistakes crocodiles for lifeless logs. By scanning the surface of the water, crocodiles can keep almost their entire body underwater. This allows them to get quite close to an unsuspecting victim and launch a fatal attack.
African pygmy viper
This gray snake is perfectly suited to its desert habitat. Like all snakes, it is an excellent ambush predator that hides under the sand in anticipation of prey. Only the head rises above the sand, which is quite difficult to notice.
Australian copperhead snake
Most snakes are masters of camouflage. The Australian copperhead, or copperhead, is one of the world's deadliest snakes and has a body covered in a striking pattern of random spots that blend in with the grass, leaves and branches.
Wart
This predatory fish it is almost impossible to detect when she lies in ambush, waiting for her prey. In this form, the wart resembles an ordinary stone covered with coral on the ocean floor, right up to the very moment of its attack.
Lion, tiger, leopard, jaguar
All these wild cats rely on cunning and ambush when hunting, so they need to get as close to the prey as possible. The lion's golden fur hides it in the golden brown landscape African savannas. Lions try to get as close to the prey as possible, thereby compensating for their insufficient speed. Their camouflage is extremely useful for achieving this goal.
Tigers hunt mainly in wooded areas, in areas covered with tall grass. Since tigers usually hunt at dawn or dusk, their otherwise visible stripes help them move unnoticed in long grass.
Leopards and jaguars hunt in densely forested areas. The rosette pattern on their body helps them hide in the ever-shifting shadows cast by the leaves in the sunlight.
Seasonal changes in color
This phenomenon can be observed in the tundra, where some animals change their fur in winter and summer. The winter coat of these animals is white, helping them blend in with the constant masses of snow and ice. In winter, white fur helps animals hide from predators or wait for prey in ambush. With the arrival of summer, the white fur is replaced by brown-black fur, which helps the animals hide in the summer landscape.
Such animals include, first of all, the hare, partridge and arctic fox, which feeds on hares and partridges.
Adaptive color change
Chameleon
The chameleon is undoubtedly the most famous example of such animals. However, the chameleon is not the only one that can change color in this way; many arctic animals also have this ability. As in the case of the chameleon, contrary to popular belief, these animals do not always change their color for the sake of protection. Quite often, a change in color is a message to representatives of the same species. This color change can serve as a signal of readiness for mating. The chameleon primarily uses its ability to change color to express its mood, although also to blend in with its environment.
Unlike the chameleon, the cuttlefish uses this ability primarily for defensive purposes. It evaluates its surroundings and adopts the appropriate color. What's amazing is that cuttlefish can change the color of their entire body in less than a second. Cuttlefish also use the ability to “flare” as a means of communication. Other cephalopods such as octopuses and squids also have this ability.
Flounder
Flounder moving along the ocean floor can change their color to match their coloration. seabed. When flounder lies on the bottom, it is not easy to notice.
Gradual change in color shades
This coloration is observed in almost all highly developed animals. Upper body of dolphins, sharks, penguins, deer, cheetahs, etc. darker than the bottom. Although this coloration also helps land animals such as deer, it benefits ocean predators the most.
Sharks, dolphins and penguins have an almost white belly, which gradually turns into a dark gray or black back. Thanks to this coloration, these predators are not easy to replace, both from below against the backdrop of sunlight and from above, where their backs blend into the color of the ocean.
Mimicry
There are animals that have learned to imitate other animals or objects. This ability to imitate gives them a huge advantage, allowing them to hide effectively. Creatures that imitate an inanimate object, such as a leaf or twig, can rest peacefully among the leaves and branches without worrying about their safety. Animals that imitate living things (a phenomenon called mimetism) often imitate animals that are more dangerous and scarier than themselves. In this way they protect themselves from predators. Here we present to your attention the best imitators.
Leafweed
This incredible miracle of evolution cannot be detected when it is hidden in a tree. These insects appearance strikingly reminiscent of tree leaves. They even move like a leaf when the wind blows. Some leafhoppers even have bumps along the edges, making them look even more like leaves.
Like many butterflies that have large eye spots on their wings, the owl's eye butterfly's "eye" is designed to ward off potential predators. These butterflies are hunted mainly by lizards and frogs. Spots resembling owl's eyes help butterflies save their lives.
Hoverflies are harmless insects that feed on nectar and pollen. Many hoverflies imitate more dangerous and poisonous wasps. In this way, they escape from animals that are afraid of wasps.
In the animal world, conspicuous coloration is almost always a disadvantage. However, the bright coloration can also serve as a warning to potential predators.
Brightly colored animals are more likely to be poisonous, dangerous, or unpalatable. Many unpalatable butterflies and moths are painted in bright warning colors. And it’s also better not to touch brightly colored frogs. Many harmless animals have evolved to have dangerous animal colors to help them avoid predators.
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Means of passive defense include such structures and features that, only by their presence, determine the greater likelihood of preserving the life of an individual in the struggle for existence.
Animals often develop hard coverings - peculiar protective formations such as shells. In vertebrates, this is the bone cover of reptiles, which forms real shells in turtles - just a few examples of this kind.
To avoid predators, the main passive-defensive reactions are also freezing, fleeing, hiding in shelters and other appropriate behavioral techniques.
a) Adaptive coloration is one of the important passive means of protecting organisms.
Protective coloration is often especially important for protecting the organism in the early stages of ontogenesis - eggs, larvae, chicks, etc. Thus, the eggs of birds that openly nest in the grass or on the ground always have a pigmented shell that matches the color of the surrounding background. In large birds, predators, as well as in species whose eggs are in closed nests or buried in the soil (like reptiles), protective coloration does not develop.
Often the color of animals is similar to the color of the environment in which they live. Desert snakes or lizards are grayish-yellow in color, matching the color of the surrounding soil and vegetation, and animals living among the snow have white fur or plumage.
Color matching the main color environment and helping the animal remain unnoticed by the enemy is called patronizing, or protective. This type of coloration may be to some extent the same for animals from completely different geographical areas. natural areas. For example, grasshoppers or mantises, frogs, toads or lizards living in the grassy area of the middle zone are characterized by a green color. It also predominates in the coloring of insects, amphibians or reptiles. tropical forests, where even among birds there are many species with green plumage.
An important element of protective coloring is the principle of counter-shading, in which the illuminated side of the animal’s body is colored darker than that in the shadow. This protective coloration is found in fish swimming in the upper layers of water. The dark back, but illuminated by the sun's rays, and the light, but shaded abdomen make these fish unnoticeable to predators both above and below.
Warning coloring. Very bright coloring is usually characteristic of well-protected, poisonous, burning, stinging, etc. forms The bright color warns the predator in advance that the object of their attack is inedible. Biological role This coloration has been well studied in experiments. Individual “trials and errors” eventually force the predator to give up attacking brightly colored prey (Fig. 11.5). Selection contributed not only to the production of poisonous secretions, but also to their combination with a bright (usually red, yellow, black) color.
Seasonal coloring. The role of protective coloring in seasonally changing conditions is great. For example, many animals of middle and high latitudes are white in winter, which makes them invisible in the snow (arctic fox, hare, ermine, ptarmigan, etc.). In a number of animals, a rapid (within a few minutes) adaptive change in body color is observed, which is achieved by the redistribution of pigments in the chromatophores of the skin or other integuments of the body in the flounder (Pleuronectes platessa), the agama lizard (Calotes versicolor), the chameleon (Chamaeleo chamaeleon) and other animals.
Dismembering coloring. The coloring of many animals is a combination of contrasting color spots and stripes that do not match the shape of the animal, but blend in tone and pattern with the surrounding background. This coloring seems to dismember the animal’s body, hence its name. Zebras and giraffes have distinctive colors. Their striped and spotted figures are almost invisible against the background of the vegetation of African savannas, especially at dusk, when predators go hunting. With the help of dismembering coloration, a great camouflage effect is achieved in some amphibians. Thus, the body of a toad (Bufo superciliaris) living in South Africa is visually divided into two parts, due to which the animal completely loses its outline. Many snakes, including the Gaboon viper, have luxurious, dismembering colors. The bright geometric pattern erases the contours of the snake’s body and makes it completely invisible against the backdrop of variegated vegetation and fallen leaves. This type of coloring is also typical for many inhabitants. underwater world, especially for coral fish. The most variegated colors are found in representatives of the bristletooth family, for example, angelfish or pennant bristletooths. Dismembering coloring disrupts the impression of the contours of the body. In this case, not only does the outline of the animal merge with the surrounding background, but it also makes it difficult to determine the outline of vital organs, such as the eyes of vertebrates. Many unrelated animals exhibit the same camouflage of the eyes with dark spots and stripes.
Repellent coloring. Animals with bright colors are clearly visible against the surrounding background. As a rule, such animals stay open and do not hide when there is danger. They do not need to be careful or hasty, since they are most often inedible or poisonous. Their bright coloring is a kind of warning to others - don't touch them!
Repelling, or warning, colors are various combinations of the most contrasting colors: red, black, yellow, white. Those species of animals whose skin glands secrete poisonous mucus also have a repellent coloration, for example fire salamanders or dart frogs. The mucus of dart frogs is so poisonous that the natives use it to treat the tips of hunting arrows. One poisoned arrow can kill such a large animal as a leopard.
Some animals with intimidating colors, such as boxfish, have a hard “shell” that protects them from attack by other fish.
Mimicry. Mimicry is the similarity of defenseless and edible type with one or more representatives of genetically unrelated species, well protected from attacks by predators.
IN last years Many interesting examples of mimicry have been discovered. One of them is an example of Müllerian mimicry in fish. Blenny (Meiaeanthus nigrolineatus) on early stages development looks like juvenile cardinal fish from the family Apogonidae, the only way whose protection is the formation of a flock. In the early stages, the coloration of juvenile blennies is close to the coloration of cardinals: dark stripes on a light background on the sides of the body and a dark spot with a bright border at the base of the caudal fin. In adult dogs, the color is gray-blue and monotonous. Adult blennies are highly poisonous, while juveniles are mildly poisonous. Juvenile blenny are saved only in flocks of cardinals, and adult forms form their own flocks.
Milk snake imitates color
Changing color. Nature has endowed some animals with the ability to change color when transitioning from one color environment to another. This property serves as reliable protection for the animal, as it makes it unnoticeable in any environment.
In addition to the flounder fish, which is well known for its rapid color change, the thalassoma fish, which is blue in the water column and turns yellow at the bottom, changes its color to match its environment. Pipefish, pipits and blennies instantly become camouflaged: in the zone of red algae they acquire a red color, among green algae they become green, and in a yellow environment they become yellow.
Some lizards also change color. This property is especially pronounced in the tree lizard chameleon. The rapid change of color from green to yellow or brown makes it almost invisible on the branches among the foliage. In addition, the chameleon can scare away the enemy by quickly changing the color of contrasting colors, becoming either bright green, then red or black.
Some amphibians and crustaceans masterfully control their colors.
b) Protective form.
There are many animals whose body shape is similar to some object in the environment. Such similarity often saves the animal from enemies, especially if this animal also has a protective coloring. Some fish also camouflage themselves using their protective body shape. Appearance Such fish are quite unique, and their names are original, for example, clownfish, rag-horse. The clownfish lives in sargassum algae, through which it moves using its pectoral and ventral fins. Thanks to its color and bizarre shape, it is completely lost in the thickets. It bears little resemblance to fish and rag-horse. Its body is equipped with numerous spines and ribbon-like leathery outgrowths; they fluctuate all the time, and therefore it is almost impossible to distinguish fish from algae.
b) Intimidating pose
Many animals that do not have sufficient strength to repel the enemy still try to scare him away by taking various frightening poses. For example, the long-eared lizard spreads its legs wide, opens its mouth to the limit and stretches the parotid folds, which become filled with blood and together with the mouth create the impression of a huge mouth. The frilled lizard achieves an even more frightening effect. Taking a frightening pose, she suddenly, like an umbrella, opens the skin membrane located around the neck. The sudden appearance of a brightly colored collar (cloak) surrounding a widely grinning mouth scares away many of its enemies.
Among snakes with a fearsome pose, cobras, collared snakes and especially the gray tree snake are interesting, in which, when scaring off an enemy, the shape and color of the front part of the body sharply changes. In addition, the snake sticks out a long red tongue and throws it over its head.
c) Fading
A defensive tactic for some animals is a position of complete immobility. So, upon seeing an enemy, a running hare or deer freezes in place. Thanks to this, they can remain undetected. The freezing instinct is well developed in birds. Nocturnal birds, such as bitterns and nightjars, freeze for the day. This behavior is clearly expressed in solitary birds during the incubation period. Thus, a woodcock sitting on a nest, noticing danger, presses tightly to the ground and freezes. Concealing coloring and motionless pose make it completely invisible.
There are animals that, at a moment of danger, fall into a state of stupor. A classic example is the behavior of the opossum. Unable to escape from the enemy in time, the animal falls on its side and becomes motionless, imitating death. The attacker, having sniffed the prostrate body, usually leaves, and after a while the possum “comes to life” and flees. This behavior may not be pretense, but the animal’s shock reaction to a critical situation.
The impression of death is also created by some reptiles, for example, hog snakes, which, in case of danger, lie motionless on the ground with their belly up.
d) Autotomy
An original defensive technique in animals is autotomy - the ability to instantly discard a certain part of the body at the moment of nervous irritation. This reaction is typical, for example, of many lizards. When the attacker grabs the lizard by the tail, it leaves it to the enemy and runs away. Self-mutilation occurs not consciously and not from the fragility of the organ (it is very difficult to tear off the tail of a dead lizard), but under the influence of nervous irritation. The pain caused to the tail leads to a sharp contraction of certain muscles, and the tail is automatically thrown away. The rejected organs continue to move for some time: the discarded limbs contract, the tentacles and tails wriggle, attracting the attention of the attacker. Thanks to this, the animal manages to escape.
In some animals, autotomy is associated with regeneration—the restoration of lost organs, for example in lizards.
e) Rescue in flight, escape
In the struggle to preserve life, some animals use techniques that are completely unusual for representatives of their class. Thus, among fish there are species that have adapted to flight and use it as a way of protecting themselves from attack. Such flyers include, for example, fish from the flying fish family and the wedge-bellied family. Fleeing from overtaking predators, they slip out of the water. Flying fish spread their huge pectoral fins, and some species also ventral fins, in the air and glide over the water, usually flying up to several tens of meters. Wedge bellies stay on the surface thanks to fast and frequent strokes of the pectoral fins and can fly up to five meters.
There are also “glider pilots” among reptiles, for example the flying dragon lizard. This reptile has false ribs with skin membranes. When the dragon is at rest, they are pressed tightly to the body. In case of danger, the lizard spreads them, forming the semblance of two wide semicircular wings, and quickly glides to a distance of up to 30 meters. In flight, decorated tree snakes also escape from attack. They flatten the body, spreading the ribs and drawing in the stomach. Having given their body a flat shape, the snakes either fly to another tree or gently glide to the ground. They use gliding flight to escape from enemies, and tree frogs from the copepod family. These amphibians have membranes between their toes. Spreading their fingers wide and stretching their membranes, the frogs glide down easily, as if on wings.
When dealing with enlarged pores, you need to understand that they are not a skin defect, but a feature of the skin. It is physically impossible to narrow pores, but you can make them almost invisible with the help of proper care, procedures and makeup.
Home care
For pores to be invisible, they must be clean. Gentle products that remove impurities without drying the skin will help in cleansing. They will prevent the appearance of blackheads, which turn the most inconspicuous pores into dark craters. Products with acids can also help: they exfoliate dead skin cells, improving skin texture and reducing the appearance of pores. The most useful will be salicylic acid, which penetrates the pores and reduces the amount of sebum. Just when using acids in the warm season, do not forget to carefully protect your skin from sunlight.
Procedures with a cosmetologist
Procedures that cleanse the skin and those that increase its tone will help make pores less noticeable: when the face is slightly tightened, the pores are visually smaller. For those who need a serious solution, there is laser resurfacing - it increases skin regeneration, making the face smooth and even. But if you do not have very enlarged pores, it will be enough to regularly go for cleaning and make alginate masks.
Makeup
If you cannot get rid of enlarged pores, then you can hide them with the help of cosmetics. There is nothing wrong with this: you are not covering up the inflammation, but only adjusting the makeup to the characteristics of the skin. The simplest way out is a primer that “fills” indentations and unevenness, creating a smooth surface: the foundation will fit perfectly on it and will not sink into the pores. Products with silicones cope best with this.
