Animals are painted by Nature darkest on those parts which tend to be most lighted by the sky's light, and vice versa. ... the fact that a vast majority of creatures of the whole animal kingdom wear this gradation, developed to an exquisitely minute degree, and are famous for being hard to see in their homes, speaks for itself.
コットはこれを "Thayer straining the theory to a fantastic extreme"[17] (「セイヤーは極端に空想的なほどにこの理論を濫用しすぎる」) と評している。
セイヤーもコットも著作の中に、白い背景の前に立つカウンターシェーディングがない白いニワトリの写真を混ぜている。これがどういう意味かというと、セイヤー的には「背景が何であっても目立たなくなりようがない単色の物体」("a monochrome object can not be 'obliterated', no matter what its background"[18])、コット的には「色が似ているというだけでは身を隠すには至らない」("Colour resemblance alone is not sufficient to afford concealment"[19]) ということである。これについてコットはこう説明する:
Contrary to what might have been expected by any one lacking in artistic perception, the bird appears highly conspicuous, the back looking lighter, and the breast darker, than the background, although in actual fact, back, background and breast are all pure white.
(芸術的理解に欠ける人々が考えるようなことに反しているが、鳥というものは非常に目立つものだ。背景に対して、背は明るく胸は暗く見える。背も胸も背景もみんな真っ白だというのにだ。) — Cott、Cott, 1940. p. 35.[20]
It tones the canvas on which are painted the Leopard's spots, the Tiger's stripes ... It is the dress almost universally worn by rodents... It is the essential uniform adopted by Conies, Asses, Antelopes, Deer ... It is repeated extensively among the marsupials ... It provides a basic livery for the great majority of snakes, lizards, and amphibians. Among insects it reaches a fine state of perfection in different caterpillars and grasshoppers. ... It is, however, in rivers, and in the surface waters of the sea, that countershading reaches its maximum development and significance.
オーストラリア人動物学者ウィリアム・デーキン (William Dakin) は1941年出版の The Art of Camouflage (『迷彩の芸術』) で、カウンターシェーディングをある程度セイヤーに倣い記述した。1942年には軍用ハンドブックとして再刊された。デーキンもセイヤーやコットに匹敵するほどに鳥の模型の写真を撮っており、戦闘服の肩や腕はカウンターシェーディングになっているべきだと説いた[32]。
カウンターシェーディングはアメリカ合衆国陸軍省による1943年の Principles of Camouflage (『迷彩総則』) でも触れられている。理論に関する4つの段落の後に実践に関する1段落があり、このような勧告が書かれている。[33]
Upper surfaces should be painted and textured so as to conform to the color and tone of the surrounding country (background) and the sides graded and toned from this to the white which the under surfaces and parts in shade should be painted.
(上面は周囲の地形(背景)に色彩や明度が調和するように塗装や質感をつけて、側面は下の面や部材の影になった部分がそこから白色へと階調になるようにするのがよい。) — the U.S. War Department、Principles of Camouflage, WWII Tactical and Technical Trends[33]
Among pelagic fish it is common to find the upper surface dark-coloured and the lower surface white, so that the animal is inconspicuous when seen either from above or below.
(外洋に住む魚の中では、上や下から見られたとき目立たなくなるように、上面が暗色で下面が白色になっているものは珍しくない。) — Frank Evers Beddard、Beddard, 1892. p. 122.[39]
Beddard, F. E. (1892). Animal coloration; an account of the principal facts and theories relating to the colours and markings of animals. Swan Sonnenschein
Wallace, A.R. (1889). Darwinism. An exposition of the theory of natural selection with some of its applications. Macmillan
一般書
Behrens, Roy R (2009). Goldstein, E Bruce (ed.). Encyclopedia of Perception, Volume 1. Sage. pp. 233–235.
Edmunds, Malcolm (2008). "Deimatic Behavior". In Capinera, John L (ed.). Encyclopedia of Entomology. Springer.
Forbes, Peter (2009). Dazzled and Deceived: Mimicry and Camouflage. Yale
Rowland, Hannah M (2011). “The history, theory and evidence for a cryptic function of countershading”. In Stevens, Martin; Merilaita, Sami. Animal Camouflage: Mechanisms and Function. Cambridge University Press
Ruxton, Graeme D; Sherratt, Tom N; Speed, Michael P (2004). “3. Countershading and counterillumination”. Avoiding Attack: The Evolutionary Ecology of Crypsis, Warning Signals and Mimicry. Oxford University Press
Carroll, Sean B. (2006). Endless Forms Most Beautiful. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. pp. 229–231, 237. ISBN978-0-297-85094-6
ジャーナル
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Craik, KJ (1944). “White plumage of sea-birds”. Nature153: 288. doi:10.1038/153288.
Edmunds, M; Dewhirst, RA (1994). “The survival value of countershading with wild birds as predators”. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society51 (4): 447–452. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.1994.tb00973.x.
Elias, Ann (2011). Camouflage Australia: Art, Nature, Science and War. Sydney University Press. pp. 47–53
Hershberger, W (1970). “Attached-shadow orientation perceived as depth by chickens reared in an environment illuminated from below”. J. Comp. Physiol. Psychol73: 407–411. doi:10.1037/h0030223.
Speed, MP; Kelly, David J; Davidson, AM; G.D. Ruxton (2005). “Countershading enhances crypsis with some bird species but not others”. Behavioral Ecology16 (2): 327–334. doi:10.1093/beheco/arh166.
Young, RE; Roper, CFE (1976). “Bioluminescent countershading in midwater animals: Evidence from living squid”. Science191 (4231): 1046–1048. doi:10.1126/science.1251214. PMID1251214.
Young, RE; Roper, CFE (1977). “Intensity regulation of bioluminescence during countershading in living midwater animals”. Fishery Bulletin75 (2): 239–252.
Lindgren, Johan and Peter Sjövall, Ryan M. Carney, Per Uvdal, Johan A. Gren, Gareth Dyke, Bo Pagh Schultz, Matthew D. Shawkey, Kenneth R. Barnes, Michael J. Polcyn (February 2014). “Skin pigmentation provides evidence of convergent melanism in extinct marine reptiles”. Nature506 (7489): 484–488. doi:10.1038/nature12899. PMID24402224.
Vinther, Jakob; Nicholls, Robert; Lautenschlager, Stephan; Pittman, Michael; Kaye, Thomas G.; Rayfield, Emily; Mayr, Gerald; Cuthill, Innes C. (2016). “3D Camouflage in an Ornithischian Dinosaur”. Current Biology26: 1–7. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2016.06.065.