Crypsis

Hiding

Revealing itself

Cryptic behavior. Mossy leaf-tailed gecko (Uroplatus sikorae) Montagne d’Ambre, Madagascar, showing the camouflage disguise using the dermal flap.

In ecology, crypsis is the ability of an animal or a plant^[1] to avoid observation or detection by other animals. It may be a predation strategy or an antipredator adaptation. Methods include camouflage, nocturnality, subterranean lifestyle and mimicry. Crypsis can involve visual, olfactory (with pheromones) or auditory concealment. When it is visual, the term cryptic coloration, effectively a synonym for animal camouflage, is sometimes used, but many different methods of camouflage are employed by animals or plants.^[1]