Survival and Figure–Ground Relationships The importance of figure-ground relationships in nature is illustrated by animals that rely on camouflage for survival, like this Eastern screech owl (left) and the pygmy seahorse, barely a half-inch long, which lives only in a specific type of coral in Indonesia (right). When an animal’s coloring and markings blend with its background, a predator cannot distinguish the animal (the figure) from its surroundings (the ground). In much the same way, military personnel and equipment are often concealed from enemy forces by clothing or tarps that are designed to blend in with the local terrain, whether it be jungle or desert.

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