Climate change may compromise animals’ ability to camouflage

Science : As the climate warms, will mammals whose coat color changes with the seasons be able to adapt? L. Scott Mills of the University of Montana and colleagues report online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that snowshoe hares in the US Rocky Mountains are starting to stick out more because their seasonal color change is getting out of sync with their environment. Over the past decade, Mills has noticed more white hares in brown surroundings. For the study, the researchers tracked some 50 hares through three winters and noted how well their coat color matched the local background. Although they found that the animals’ twice yearly molting cycle was fairly consistentâmdash;always starting about 10 October and 10 Aprilâmdash;they appeared to be able to vary the rate of change slightly. “It makes me optimistic that they can adapt by evolutionary change,” Mills said.