Camouflage Animals

Camouflaging is one of the survival strategies that help animals to hunt their prey and protect themselves from potential predators.

There are four different types of camouflage that include:

Cryptic coloration: It is the most familiar type of camouflage where the color of the animal’s body blends with the environment they live, e.g., chameleons, whose green bodies make them merge into their green surroundings.
Disruptive coloration: In this form the contrasting patterns on the animal’s body, break their outline creating an illusory effect. This helps them merge with the environment well. E.g., jaguar, lions
Self-decoration: This process is mostly used by invertebrates who adorn themselves with many things found in their habitats, like algae, leaves, and mosses, to escape their natural enemies. E.g., sea urchins and sloths.
Disguise: Animals disguise themselves in their surroundings by taking the shape, texture, or color of the inanimate objects around them. E.g., a stick insect looks like a twig or stick, making it hard for its enemies to spot them on a forest floor.

List of Animals that Use Camouflage (Change Color)

Name	Class	Type of Camouflage	Description
Leaf-tailed Gecko	Reptile	Cryptic Coloration and Disguise	Their mottled brown body resembles a branch. Moreover, their tail bears a striking similarity to a leaf that helps the geckos blend into their surroundings well.
Vietnamese Mossy Frog	Amphibian	Disguise	Their green body, black spots, and visible spines make them look like clumps of mosses.
Chameleons	Reptile	Cryptic Coloration	Chameleons don’t change color to camouflage. They change color to regulate their body temperature and send signals to their fellow chameleons. However, this helps them blend into their surroundings well.
Mountain Hare	Mammal	Cryptic Coloration	They have a grayish-brown coat in summer that replicates the brownish moorlands they mainly inhabit. In winter, their body turns white, camouflaging with the snowy terrain.
Red Squirrel	Mammal	Cryptic Coloration	One can barely spot these red squirrels when they remain perched on the barks of pine trees.
Goldenrod Crab Spider	Invertebrate	Cryptic Coloration	They remain hidden in flowers, changing their colors to match their habitat well.
Green Sea Turtle	Reptile	Disruptive Coloration	These turtles follow the countershading technique where the dorsal part appears dark, and the ventral part has a lighter shade. This protects them from potential predators as their dark body blends with the ocean depths.
Great Horned Owl	Bird	Disruptive Coloration	Specialized feathers or tufts help them disguise themselves. The tufts help break the round face profile of these owls; thus, they seem to be a part of the barks and woods they inhabit.
Eastern Screech Owl	Bird	Cryptic Coloration	Its white, gray, or tan body blends well with the barks. This makes it difficult for predators to spot the owl when it remains hidden within the cavities of the tree.
Snowy Owl	Bird	Cryptic Coloration	Their white feathers help them survive in the snowy landscape.
Mimic Octopus	Invertebrate	Cryptic Coloration, Aggressive Mimicry	They change their body color to match their surroundings with the help of chromotophores or color-changing cells lying under their skin’s surface. These octopuses can also mimic the shapes of the most dangerous creatures at sea as a defense mechanism.
Tawny Frogmouth	Bird	Cryptic Coloration, Disguise	These birds have brownish-gray feathers marked with mottled black spots and streaks. This makes them easily mistaken for tree bark.
Arctic Hare	Mammal	Cryptic Coloration	Their coat turns white in winter, making them indistinguishable from the snow.
Alaskan Hare	Mammal	Cryptic Coloration	Like the Alaskan hare, their coat also transforms to white in winter, looking like a ball of snow against the snowy terrain.
Ptarmigans	Bird	Cryptic Coloration	They go through a series of molts between April and November, and their plumage change according to the ground color. In winter, they appear white; in summer, their body turns brown, while in spring, they are a mix of white and brown.
Leafy Seadragon	Fish	Cryptic Coloration, Disguise, Mimicry	They have leafy appendages and can change color to match the seagrass and seaweeds. These fish even sway like plants during water currents.
Pacific Tree Frog	Amphibian	Cryptic Coloration	These frogs change color according to humidity, temperature, and mood. In high temperatures, they appear yellow; when afraid or excited, they become pale.
Stone Flounder	Fish	Cryptic Coloration, Mimesis	When swimming close to the bottom of the sea, they can imitate the colors and textures found on the sea floor. So, they may resemble sand at one moment and rocky bottom at the next moment.
Dead Leaf Butterfly	Insect	Mimesis	When their wings are closed, they no longer look like a butterfly but like dry leaves having dark veins.
Leaf Katydid	Insect	Mimesis	They mimic the shapes of branches, leaves, and barks.
Green Anole	Reptile	Cryptic Coloration	They aren’t chameleons but change color like them from green to yellow, brown, or even gray.
Sand Crab	Invertebrate	Cryptic Coloration	It has a gray shell that gives it a color similar to the sand it stays in.
Arctic Fox	Mammal	Cryptic Coloration	During winter, it has a white coat that looks like a ball of snow. As the season changes, the white coat sheds, and a brown one grows, which again matches the rocky surroundings.
Stick Insects	Insect	Mimesis	Stick insects look like twigs or sticks that help them shield themselves from potential predators.
Two-tailed Spider	Invertebrates	Cryptic Coloration	Their brownish body blends with the color of the barks. These spiders change color in accordance with the surface they rest on.
Buff-Tip Moth	Insect	Disguise	When at rest amidst broken twigs on the forest floor, identifying them is impossible.
Ghost Mantis	Insect	Cryptic Coloration, Disguise	Because of their brown body, many can mistake them for dried-up leaves or withered branches. They even tuck their forelegs against their body and rock like leaves blown by a breeze.
Brown Vine Snake	Reptile	Cryptic Coloration	Their grayish-brown upper side and yellow undersides help them camouflage in the foliage they inhabit.
Sloths	Mammal	Self-Decoration	Sloths are the world’s slowest mammals, and their sedentary life provides them with scope for camouflage. Their soft fur encourages algae growth. These mammals are so laid back that they don’t do much to prevent growth. Hence, they have a greenish covering on their body that helps them hide in plants.
Snowshoe Hare	Mammal	Cryptic Coloration	During spring and summer, their coat is reddish-brown, similar to the color of the rocks and surrounding dirt. In winter, their white coat replicates the color of the snow.
Stoats	Mammal	Cryptic Coloration	Like the snowshoe hare, the stoat, also has a brown summer coat and a white winter coat.
Jaguar	Mammal	Disruptive Coloration	The spots on their coat, called rosettes, help them blend with the tall grasses and tree branches.
Gaboon Viper	Reptile	Mimesis	Their broad head, and short tail looks like a fallen leaf.
Sea Urchin	Invertebrate	Self-Decoration	They decorate themselves with shells, rocks, and algae to protect from predators.