procrypticadj.
/prəʊˈkrɪptɪk/, U.S. /proʊˈkrɪptɪk/ Zoology.
Designating, relating to, or exhibiting colouring or marking in animals that protects them from predators by concealing them against the background environment. Contrasted with anticryptic adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animal body > markings or colourings > [adjective] > protectively concealing
cryptic1890
procryptic1890
syncryptic1901
1890 Times 6 Sept. 7/4 [Report of a lecture by E. B. Poulton to the British Association.] The object of the first and principle use of colour was concealment. These colours were..cryptic, including two subdivisions—(1) procryptic, when concealment is a defence against enemies; (2) anticryptic, when it is a means of capturing prey.
1910 W. P. Pycraft Hist. Birds xix. 323 Procryptic coloration has been brought to a pitch of marvellous perfection in such birds as the Bitterns.
1940 H. B. Cott Adaptive Coloration in Animals ii. vi. 261 A red coccinellid beetle resting on a geranium flower would appear as procryptic as a green weevil on a nettle leaf.
1993 Biol. Jrnl. Linn. Soc. 48 299 Some adaptive resemblances are attributable to more than one selective factor and thus may be categorized in more than one way (having aposematic and procryptic functions, for instance).
Derivatives
proˈcryptically adv.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animal body > markings or colourings > [adverb] > protectively concealing
cryptically1896
procryptically1900
1900 Nature 13 Dec. 157/2 These animals are known to be procryptically coloured.
1961 Evolution 72 89/2 A motionless procryptically colored animal would be overlooked by a large percentage of predators depending largely upon vision.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1890