The Adaptive Significance of Coloration in Mammals

By Tim Caro. 2005

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Prey concealment: visual background complexity and prey contrast distribution (2010, background): “It is widespread in the animal kingdom and, for example, Caro (2005) proposed that such camouflage appears to be the single most important evolutionary force in explaining overall coloration in mammals.”
Does colour matter? The influence of animal warning coloration on human emotions and willingness to protect them (2013, background): “This suggests that humans decode the warning signals of animals correctly, just as their natural predators (see Ruxton et al., 2004) and that colours play a prominent role in human interactions with other animals (Caro, 2005).”
Habitat selection by large mammals in a southern Brazilian Atlantic Forest (2009, background): “An anti-predator strategy may further explain the main use of these sites by D. novemcinctus (McBee and Baker 1982) since dense forested habitats will facilitate prey escape or camouflage (sensu Caro 2005).”
Genetics, development and evolution of adaptive pigmentation in vertebrates (2006, background): “Most important, color quality and/ or color patterns frequently exhibit dramatic variation both within and between species in a way that can be quantified (Endler, 1990) and is conspicuously affected by natural selection (Caro, 2005).”