Template:POTD/2022-12-11

Picture of the day

In ecology, crypsis is the ability of an animal or a plant to avoid observation or detection by other animals. It may be a predation strategy or an anti-predator adaptation. Methods include camouflage, nocturnality, subterranean lifestyle and mimicry. Crypsis can involve visual, olfactory (with pheromones), or auditory concealment. When it is visual, the term cryptic coloration, effectively a synonym for animal camouflage, is sometimes used, but many different methods are employed by animals or plants. These photographs, captured in Montagne d'Ambre National Park, Madagascar, depict a mossy leaf-tailed gecko (Uroplatus sikorae) exhibiting crypsis by camouflaging itself on a branch (above), and revealing itself from its camouflage (below).Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp