Our understanding of camouflage has been developing for over 100 years. Several
underlying principles have emerged. Background pattern matching, or crypsis, is insufficient
to conceal objects because of edge information. Other strategies exist to disrupt the
continuity of extended edges. These strategies are reviewed. We pay particular attention to
the theory of disruptive coloration, which predicts that high-contrast elements located at the
object edge will mask the perception of a target as belonging to a certain category of object …