The Making of Species 



that, where other things are equal, it is of 

 advantage to all creatures which hunt or which 

 are preyed upon to be inconspicuous. If difficult 

 to distinguish amid their natural surroundings, 

 the former are likely to secure their prey readily, 

 and the latter have a chance of escaping from 

 their enemies. Our quarrel is with the theory of 

 cryptic colouring as it is enunciated by many 

 Neo-Darwinians, with the theory that every hue, 

 every marking, every device displayed by an 

 organism is of utility to the organism and has 

 been directly developed by natural selection. 



The extreme advocates of the theory of cryptic 

 colouring have greatly exaggerated the degree 

 in which animals are assimilated to their natural 

 environment. 



We grant that a great many creatures, which 

 when seen in a menagerie appear very con- 

 spicuous, are the reverse of conspicuous when 

 standing motionless amid their natural surround- 

 ings. As Beddard has pointed out, it is often 

 not easy to find a sixpenny piece which has been 

 dropped on the carpet, but the reason for this is, 

 not that the coin is protectively coloured, but 

 that any small object, no matter how coloured, 

 is difficult to distinguish amid a variegated 

 environment. The assumption of a white 

 winter coat by many organisms that live in 

 northern latitudes has been cited, again and 

 again, as showing how important it is for an 



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