Coevolution in Hide and Seek: Camouflage and Vision

Predator-prey interactions are one of the most common co-evolutionary dynamics in Nature. We consider a model of the coevolution of prey appearance and predator vision, where a successful result is visually apparent. While using a neurophysiologically-based model of vision and a rich developmental process for prey patterning, we show that predator-prey coevolution can maintain engagement. Backgrounds with large regional differences generally lead to prey that appear as mixtures of the regions. Finally, we find that engagement between predators and prey is supported by greater background complexity.

In Proceedings of the Fourteenth International Conference on the Synthesis and Simulation of Living Systems (ALIFE 14)