| Summary: | Animal coloration has been a topic of interest and research in biology for well over a century. Colors may be cryptic (functioning as an adaptation allowing the prevention of prey detection; aposematic (functioning as a warning of unprofitability) or may be the result of sexual selection. Coloration may also be function in mimicry of other organisms. The subject may be investigated in terms of both the chemical and physical basis of the colors (proximate cause) and the evolution of colouration (ultimate cause). Camouflage is generally viewed as a result of natural selection, and involves an organism's color blending in with its biotic (e.g. moss ) or abiotic ( e.g. sand ) surroundings. Camouflage is often accompanied by behavioral adaptations that make the most of it, such as landing on areas of similar color, and aligning the body correctly. It may involve costs as well as benefits, such as the cost of finding a suitable resting spot. Color may change during the seasons, during an organism's life cycle, or even over very brief intervals, such as with the chameleon. Polymorphism may also occur, allowing individuals of the same species to have different camouflage, and making prey detection more difficult for predators. Organisms living in the same environment may come to have similar coloration through convergent evolution. Colors are an aspect of only one of the senses, and although the visual system is most important for humans, some animals cannot even see (such as those living in caves, underground, in the deep sea, or those active at night) and their color may be of little or no adaptive value. These organisms rely primarily on other senses, such as olfaction and hearing, and even electroreception.
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