Infrared camouflage in leaf-sitting frogs: A cautionary tale on adaptive convergence

Many green animals that appear cryptic against green leaves also match leaf reflectance in the near-infrared (NIR). It is unlikely that this NIR background matching contributes to visual camouflage because animals do not see NIR light. Two alternative explanations have been proposed –  infrared camouflage (i.e. matching the temperature of the background) and thermoregulation – but neither hypothesis has been experimentally tested. To test these hypotheses, we developed coatings that manipulate NIR reflectance independently from visible reflectance. We produced agar frog models that mimic the reflectivity of different species of leaf-sitting frogs, which are visibly green but differ greatly in NIR reflectance. We compared heating rates and temperature (surface and core) of high and low NIR reflectance frog models in the laboratory using a solar simulator, and in tropical rainforest – the natural habitat of leaf-sitting frogs. In the laboratory, agar frog models with low NIR ref..., , , # Infrared camouflage in leaf-sitting frogs: A cautionary tale on adaptive convergence

**File: 1_LabDataAnalysis.Rmd**
Description: Compiles and visualizes the heating rate data collected in the lab. Also visualized the spectral data collected in the lab, and from the literature.
Requires:

* heatingrate_chamber.csv
* heatingrate_open.csv
* spectraldata.csv
* spectraldatalinear.csv
* spectraldataexp.csv
* ASTMG173.csv

**File: 2_FieldDataAnalysis.Rmd**
Description: Runs the analyses for the field data. Requires:

* fielddat_ibuttoncorrelation.csv
* fielddat_ibutton95max.csv
* FLIRData.csv

## DATASETS

**Data: heatingrate_chamber.csv**
Description: Heating rate data for small frog models (high and low NIR reflectance) collected in the lab in a chamber that controls for convection and conduction.

temp: Temperature (Celcius) from thermocouple
treatment: Coating type, high (High_NIR) or low (Low_NIR) near infrared reflectance
temp_type: Recording location, surface (sur_temp) or internal ...