The role of background matching and disruptive coloration in impeding detection and recognition

Abstract

Camouflage involves diverse strategies that aid animals in obscuring their presence from potential threats. These strategies inhibit detection (locating the animal) and, if detected, prevent recognition (determining the animal’s identity) of the bearer. Background matching, where animals have color patterns that match the appearance of the background they are viewed against, and disruptive coloration, where animals have high contrast markings that hinder the perception of their shape, are two of the most ubiquitous camouflage strategies. While the effect of background matching and disruptive coloration in impeding detection has been extensively studied, their effect on recognition remains poorly understood, with many studies implicitly assuming that patterns hindering detection also inhibit recognition. Here, using human volunteers as ‘predators’ of virtual targets, we tested the effectiveness of background matching and disruptive coloration on detection and recognition. We demonstrate that detection and recognition are not fully coupled because patterns effective at hindering detection did not necessarily impede recognition, and conversely, patterns that inhibited recognition were not always effective at preventing detection. The extent of background matching influenced both detection and recognition. However, the immediate match between the target’s outline and its background had a greater impact on recognition than the overall background match. Furthermore, disruptive patterns that did not break the outline of the target outperformed patterns that broke up the outline in terms of detection under certain situations. Our findings highlight that camouflage can act independently on detection and recognition, and underscore the importance of recognition in studies of animal camouflage.