Skip Navigation


Behavioral Ecology Advance Access originally published online on November 9, 2005
Behavioral Ecology 2006 17(1):84-87; doi:10.1093/beheco/arj007
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Lay Summary
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
17/1/84    most recent
arj007v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (7)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Merilaita, S.
Right arrow Articles by Lind, J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Merilaita, S.
Right arrow Articles by Lind, J.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Great tits (Parus major) searching for artificial prey: implications for cryptic coloration and symmetry

Sami Merilaita and Johan Lind

Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden

Address correspondence to S. Merilaita. E-mail: sami.merilaita{at}zoologi.su.se. J. Lind is now at the School of Biology, Bute Building, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Fife KY16 9TS, UK.

It has been suggested that bilateral symmetry may impose a cost for animals relying on camouflage because symmetric color patterns might increase the risk of detection. We tested the effect of symmetry on crypsis, carrying out a predation experiment with great tits (Parus major) and black-and-white–patterned, artificial prey items and background. First, we found that detection time was significantly longer for a highly cryptic, asymmetric pattern based on a random sample of the background than for its symmetric variants. Second, we were able to arrange the elements of a prey pattern in a way that the resulting asymmetric pattern was highly cryptic and, furthermore, its symmetric variant was highly cryptic as well. We conclude that symmetry may impose a substantial cost on cryptic patterns, but this cost varies among patterns. This suggests that for prey, which predators typically view from an angle exposing their symmetry, selection for pattern asymmetry may be less important and selection for decreased detectability cost of symmetry may be more important than previously thought. This may help to understand the existence of so many prey with cryptic, symmetric color patterns.

Key words: background matching, crypsis, disruptive coloration, predation, symmetry.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Phil Trans R Soc BHome page
M. Stevens and S. Merilaita
Defining disruptive coloration and distinguishing its functions
Phil Trans R Soc B, February 27, 2009; 364(1516): 481 - 488.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Behav EcolHome page
M. Stevens, S. A. Castor-Perry, and J. R.F. Price
The protective value of conspicuous signals is not impaired by shape, size, or position asymmetry
Behav. Ecol., January 1, 2009; 20(1): 96 - 102.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Proc R Soc BHome page
M. Stevens
Predator perception and the interrelation between different forms of protective coloration
Proc R Soc B, June 22, 2007; 274(1617): 1457 - 1464.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Phil Trans R Soc BHome page
S. Merilaita
Artificial neural networks and the study of evolution of prey coloration
Phil Trans R Soc B, March 29, 2007; 362(1479): 421 - 430.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Proc R Soc BHome page
H. M. Schaefer and N. Stobbe
Disruptive coloration provides camouflage independent of background matching
Proc R Soc B, October 7, 2006; 273(1600): 2427 - 2432.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Proc R Soc BHome page
M. Stevens, I. C Cuthill, A. M.M Windsor, and H. J Walker
Disruptive contrast in animal camouflage
Proc R Soc B, October 7, 2006; 273(1600): 2433 - 2438.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Behav EcolHome page
I. C. Cuthill, M. Stevens, A. M.M. Windsor, and H. J. Walker
The effects of pattern symmetry on detection of disruptive and background-matching coloration
Behav. Ecol., September 1, 2006; 17(5): 828 - 832.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.