20 Amazing Examples of Animal Camouflage

Camouflage is not just about chameleons changing their colors in an instant but it’s also about polar bears being white and not brown like the grizzlies. In fact, a zebra with its striped covering is a camouflage animal. In order to understand these animalsâ€™ mastery of the art of deception, we should first have an idea why they have this cunning ability [1]

A major concern of animals and other critters is to protect themselves from predators in order to survive and reproduce and pass their genes off to a new generation. Many animals have evolved adaptations known as antipredator devices such as camouflage and chemical toxins. Animals use camouflage to blend in with their environments in an attempt to be unrecognizable by predators.[2]

However, there are exceptions: animals which are dangerous to eat (e.g. wasps) advertise with warning colouration.[3]

Did you know that camouflage was not in wide use in early western civilization based warfare as it is now? 18th and 19th century armies tended to use bright colors and bold, impressive designs. These were intended to daunt the enemy, attract recruits, foster unit cohesion, or allow easier identification of units.

Now let’s leave the theory aside and jump to the fun part – here are 20 amazing photos of animal camouflage.
Uroplatus Geckos

(Bamboos for gripso_banana_prune)

(Bamboos for bsmith4815)

(Bamboos for dennis.tang)

(Bamboos for bsmith4815)
Leaf Mimic Katydids

(Bamboos for Josiah Townsend)

(Bamboos for BoyReale)

(Bamboos for threefingeredlord)
Stick Insect

(Bamboos for S.K. LO)

(Bamboos for S.K. LO)
Ghost Mantis

(Bamboos for Destinys Agent)
Dead-Leaf Mantis

(Bamboos for wikipedia)

(Bamboos for Adri?n Afonso)
Leaf Insects

Leaf insects use camouflage to take on the appearance of a leaf. They do this so accurately that predators often aren’t able to distinguish them from real leaves. In some species the edge of the leaf insect’s body even has the appearance of bite marks. To further confuse predators, when the leaf insect walks, it rocks back and forth, to mimic a real leaf being blown by the wind.