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Plants use many of the same methods as animals to camouflage themselves, a new study shows.
Research on plant camouflage is limited compared to the wealth of knowledge about how animals conceal themselves.
But a review by scientists from the University of Exeter and the Kunming Institute of Botany (Chinese Academy of Sciences) found plants use a host of techniques long known to be used by animals.
These include blending with the background, "disruptive colouration" (using high-contrast markings to break up the perceived shape of an object) and "masquerade" (looking like an unimportant object predators might ignore, such as a stone).
"It is clear that plants do more than entice pollinators and photosynthesise with their colours -- they hide in plain sight from enemies too," said Professor Martin Stevens, of the Centre for Ecology and Conservation on Exeter's Penryn Campus in Cornwall.
"From 'decoration', where they accumulate things like dust or sand on their surface, to disruptive coloration, they use many of the same methods as animals to camouflage themselves.
"We now need to discover just how important a role camouflage has in the ecology and evolution of plants."
[...] "Animal camouflage has provided scientists with arguably the best examples of evolution in action," said Professor Stevens. "It has been widely studied since the first pioneers of evolutionary biology, but relatively little research has been done into plant camouflage.
"Plants give us a fascinating parallel way of understanding how evolution works."
The paper, published in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution, is entitled: "Plant camouflage: ecology, evolution, and implications."
(Score: 3, Funny) by Farmer Tim on Saturday June 09 2018, @08:34PM (4 children)
Came for the news, stayed for the soap opera.
(Score: 2) by BsAtHome on Saturday June 09 2018, @10:08PM (2 children)
You are writing from a basement, I guess?
Typical...
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Saturday June 09 2018, @11:45PM (1 child)
woosh....What was that that just zipped by your head?
When life isn't going right, go left.
(Score: 2) by BsAtHome on Sunday June 10 2018, @12:12AM
No, just pointing out the possibility of observational bias.
And, btw, that woosh sound I also missed. The plants have been moving around all over the place here and making lots of noise while moving. They are constantly playing hide and seek.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 10 2018, @03:08PM
You know those things your mother puts on your plate at dinner that you hate to eat? Right. Those are murdered, skinned, cooked plants. Observe closely tonight and ask your mum about them.