Cuttlefish camouflage skin patterns are categorized in “skin pattern space”
![A 2D representation of how cuttlefish camouflage patterns are grouped together according to their similarity. It looks like spilled black powder, with each pattern represented by a single black dot.](/sites/default/files/styles/embed_lg_1x/public/2023-06/20230328-skin-pattern-space.png?itok=I4SOGoCn)
Here, each black dot represents a skin pattern produced by a single cuttlefish. In the same way that every color can be placed in a specific location on a color wheel, cuttlefish skin patterns can be analyzed by neural networks and assigned a specific location in “skin pattern space”. Although represented here in 2D, skin pattern space has multiple dimensions, representing the many complex elements that make up a skin pattern.
Here, each black dot represents a skin pattern produced by a single cuttlefish. In the same way that every color can be placed in a specific location on a color wheel, cuttlefish skin patterns can be analyzed by neural networks and assigned a specific location in “skin pattern space”. Although represented here in 2D, skin pattern space has multiple dimensions, representing the many complex elements that make up a skin pattern.
Copyright OIST (Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, 沖縄科学技術大学院大学). Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).