Animal Camouflage picturesAdvanced Photoshop Pictures Contest - 28 image entries
Contest Directions:  Many underwater species are true masters of camouflage - their coloring was a successful evolutionary strategy, which allowed them to blend with environment and hide from their natural predators.
In this contest you are asked to photoshop any animals (except humans) giving them paint jobs to blend with environment (house, nature, office, etc.). We encourage (but don't require) you to submit entries showing any animals in urban environment, and their camouflage paint-jobs to blend with a street, office (etc.) where they are located.
Here's a good example 1, and example 2.
[ browse best gallery pictures ] [ browse this contest gallery in high resolution ] Tag funny pix animal camouflage
Jackpot: 1st place: $5, 2nd place: $3 , 3rd place: $2 , 4th place: $1
Started: 10/14/2008 5:00:00 PM, Ended: 10/17/2008 8:00:00 PM
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| This contest is fueled by the following news: |
| | Animal camouflage can take several forms:
1. Natural camouflage — protective (masking) color of animals appeared in the result of adaptation to surrounding media. Some types, for example, chameleon or flatfish, are capable of changing their body color to suit the color of environment.
2. Camouflage — protective (masking) paint used for reducing the perception of people, equipment, buildings at the expense of “blending» with surrounding locality. Refer masking painting (military works).
3. Camouflage (colloquial) — dress having the camouflaging color.
Generally camouflage is used by the armed forces and hunters, however elements of camouflaging dress are used also in day to day life (so called “military” style). There are single color and multicolor camouflages. The most “popular” color single shade camouflage is normally associated with khaki color. For masking in different types of forests, in deserts, in snow and etc. there are many color setups.
Mimicry (imitation, masking, in French - mimétisme, in English - mimicry) — expression introduced in zoology first time (by Baits) for designating the some special cases of extreme external similarities between the different types of animals belonging to the different kinds and even families and brigades; usually, however the same name is designated for rarely expressed cases of mimicry colors and similarities of animals with inanimate objects.
Mimicry of color
Wallace especially studied the phenomena from the point of view of Darwin theory of natural selection. Phenomena mostly and widely spread and known since long time is common conformance, harmony in color of animal with place of its habitation. Among the arctic animals, white body color is very popular, for some of them — during whole year: white bear, polar owl, Greenland falcons; for others living in localities, which are free from snow during summer brown color is changed to white only during winter: arctic fox, common weasel, rabbit-white hare. Advantage of similar kind of adaptation is obvious.
Other example of widely spread protective or camouflage harmonic color is noticed in deserts of globe. Insects, lizards, birds and beast have vast selection of forms of sand color, in all possible shades; this is noticed not only on small creatures, but also on such big creatures like on steppe antelopes, lions or camels. In general, each hunter knows how imitating color protects animals from views of enemies; hazel grouse, woodcock, double snipe, partridge may serve as examples.
Predator and victims:
In other cases camouflage similarity serves for many predators as means of waylaying and even means of attraction of food, for example for many spiders. Different types of insects from the group of mantis (Mantidae) in India possess similarity with flower by remaining unmovable. This flower is used for attracting the insects for catching. Finally phenomenon М. in strict meaning of word, imitations are presented other types of animals.
There are bright colored insects, which as per different reasons (for example, because equipped with sting or owing to the ability to emit substances of poisonous or repulsive smells and tastes) are relatively protected from aggression of enemies; and close to them there are other types of insects not having protective adaptations, but as per their external appearance and color having deceptive similarity with their colleagues, who are protected well. Butterflies from the Heliconidae family are very popular in tropical America. They have big, delicate, bright colored wings with same color on both sides — top and bottom; their flight is weak and slow, they never hide, and land always openly on upper side of leafs or flowers; they can be easily identified from other butterflies and noticed from far. All they possess liquids with strong smell; as per the observations of many authors, birds do not eat them and touch; smell and taste serve as protection for them, and bright color has warning sign; their huge population, slow flight and habit not to hide any where can be explained by this. In the same localities, some other types of butterflies from the family Leptalis and Euterpe fly, belonging to other group as per structure of head, legs and venation Pieridae; but as per common shape and color of wings they are similar to the heliconide, same is generally mixed and used as one type in amateur collections. These butterflies do not possess upsetting liquids and tastes of heliconidae and in the result of which they are not protected from insect eating birds; but having external similarity with heliconidae and flying along with them also slowly and openly, they avoid attacking. In respect of population, they are very less – one leptalide to several tens and even hundreds of heliconidaes; unprotected leptalides lost in group of well protected heliconidaes protect themselves from their enemies because of similarity with helicanidaes. This is called as masking, М. Similar examples are known from different brigades of insects and not only between the closer groups, but also often between the representatives of different brigades; there are flies similar to bumble bees, butterflies imitating the wasps etc. In all these cases М. characterizes in form of life or mutual dependency of both similar types. Like that, flies from Volucella kind owing to their similarity with bumble bees or wasps can penetrate in nests of these insects with impunity and lay eggs; here larva of flies live like owners of nest.
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