Camouflage is an important feature for many animals. The game features two different methods at the moment; colour matching from the colour genes and disruptive colouration from the pattern gene. Another widely used method of camouflage is countershading
When light falls on a uniformly coloured animal, it causes shadows on the animal's undersides. This makes the animal easier to detect by threats. In countershading, the animal's undersides are paler than the rest of the body, countering the effects of self-shading and helping to camouflage the animal better
Countershading would be a new gene with three different alleles. It would have an allele for no countershading, an allele for high countershading and an allele for low countershading. Dominance would be no countershading > high countershading > low countershading. High countershading would be more suited to an open environment and would add camouflage in the grassland, savannah and mountain biomes. Low countershading would work better in a darker, more closed environment and would add to camouflage in the jungle and swamp biomes
Above below countershading is another type of countershading used underwater by animals such as sharks and rays. The parts of the body which can be seen from above are darker, camouflaging the animal with deep water, while the parts of the body which can be seen from underneath are lighter and camouflage the animal with the surface of the water. Because of the way a nicheling's body is shaped, this type of countershading would be ineffective so I haven't included it
Below are some pictures of animals with countershading. These are, from top to bottom: a pair of Przewalski's horse, a leopard, an axis deer and a great white shark
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kakapo123
Camouflage is an important feature for many animals. The game features two different methods at the moment; colour matching from the colour genes and disruptive colouration from the pattern gene. Another widely used method of camouflage is countershading
When light falls on a uniformly coloured animal, it causes shadows on the animal's undersides. This makes the animal easier to detect by threats. In countershading, the animal's undersides are paler than the rest of the body, countering the effects of self-shading and helping to camouflage the animal better
Countershading would be a new gene with three different alleles. It would have an allele for no countershading, an allele for high countershading and an allele for low countershading. Dominance would be no countershading > high countershading > low countershading. High countershading would be more suited to an open environment and would add camouflage in the grassland, savannah and mountain biomes. Low countershading would work better in a darker, more closed environment and would add to camouflage in the jungle and swamp biomes
Above below countershading is another type of countershading used underwater by animals such as sharks and rays. The parts of the body which can be seen from above are darker, camouflaging the animal with deep water, while the parts of the body which can be seen from underneath are lighter and camouflage the animal with the surface of the water. Because of the way a nicheling's body is shaped, this type of countershading would be ineffective so I haven't included it
Below are some pictures of animals with countershading. These are, from top to bottom: a pair of Przewalski's horse, a leopard, an axis deer and a great white shark
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