All about Camouflage & BCU (inc cartoons)

[Firn]

This is related to the fact that they are dichromats, yes?



By the same token, this is related to the fact that primates are trichromats, right? And I believe that it has been suggested that some birds possess superior color vision to humans.

To a good degree. Keep in mind that a leopard moving silently through a ravine with thick vegatation can get hugely annoyed by birds and primates telegraphing their current location sitting on rocks and trees. In that case the reddish, orange, yellowish tones work against him. This aspect of his coat is a classic trade-off. Roe deer, red fox and red deer have also clearly not evolved their specific coloration in response to those pesky two-legged primates*. Their habbits a great deal, especially more experienced ladies tend to become nocturnal ghosts when human hunting pressure is high. They tend to chose their rest areas very well.

Countershading tends to be much more universal with little trade-off, from what I know. Just browse through your mental images of varios animals in their habitat during the times of activity and go through some field guides.

As said before the whole topic is so rich especially if you combine it with personal activities like birding, tracking and hunting.

*Obviously even their sommer coat is not just red. It also looks very different in shades of grey when they are most active and still open to shoot.