ArticleProceedings. Biological sciences2020
Countershading enhances camouflage by reducing prey contrast.
Article in Proceedings. Biological sciences, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- The influence of illumination and cast shadows on prey detectability by predators.Royal Society open science · 2025Article
- Reconstructing illusory camouflage patterns on moth wings using computer vision.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2025Article
- Enigmatic Headstands in European Freshwater Fish Species.Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Inconspicuous breeding coloration to conceal eggs during mouthbrooding in male cardinalfish.iScience · 2024Article
- All-a-glow: spectral characteristics confirm widespread fluorescence for mammals.Royal Society open science · 2023Article
- Countershading enhances camouflage by reducing prey contrast.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2020Article
- High detectability costs select weak warning signals in chemically defended gregarious prey.Behavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral EcologyArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
A three-dimensional body shape is problematic for camouflage because overhead lighting produces a luminance gradient across the body's surface. Countershading, a form of patterning where animals are darkest on their uppermost surface, is thought to counteract this luminance gradient and enhance concealment, but the mechanisms of protection remain unclear. Surprisingly, no study has examined how countershading alters prey contrast, or investigated how the presence of a dorsoventral luminance gradient affects detection under controlled viewing conditions. It has also been suggested that the direction of the dorsoventral luminance gradient (darkest or lightest on top) may interfere with predators' abilities to resolve prey's three-dimensional shape, yet this intriguing idea has never been tested. We used live fish predators (western rainbowfish,
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.