Definition of Crypsis

In ecology, crypsis is the ability of an organism to avoid observation. A cryptic animal may do this through camouflage, nocturnality, subterranean lifestyle, transparency, or mimicry. The word is also used in the context of eggs  and pheromone production . There is a strong evolutionary pressure for animals to blend into their environment or conceal their shape; for prey animals to avoid predators and for predators to be able to sneak up on prey. (Exceptions include: large herbivores without natural enemies; brilliantly-colored birds which rely on flight to escape predators; and venomous or poisonous animals which advertise with bright colors.) Cryptic animals include the tawny frogmouth (feather patterning resembles bark), the tuatara (hides in burrows all day; nocturnal), some jellyfish (transparent), the leafy sea dragon, and the flounder (covers itself in sediment). The distinction between camouflage and mimicry is arbitrarily defined in that mimicry requires that the "model" be another organism, rather than the surroundings; the arbitrary nature of this distinction between the two phenomena can be seen by considering animals that resemble twigs, bark, leaves or flowers, in that they are often classified as camouflaged (a plant does constitute the "surroundings"), but sometimes classified as mimics (a plant is also an organism). Either way, the animal is considered cryptic.