Peeling the survivability onion: how to explain defensive coloration

Some of the most persuasive examples of natural selection come from defensive coloration, be that camouflage, masquerade, warning coloration, Batesian mimicry or deimatic display. These can be understood as a suite of strategies that work at different stages of ever-greater predatory threat: the survivability onion. Moreover, these strategies can only be understood in the light of the perception and cognition of those potential predators: whether the prey are insects or birds, the major threats are avian.