Collection: Hugh Cott

Hugh Bamford Cott, (6 July 1900 – 18 April 1987), was a British zoologist, an authority on both natural and military camouflage, and a scientific illustrator and photographer. Many of his field studies took place in Africa, where he was especially interested in the Nile crocodile, the evolution of pattern and colour in animals. During the Second World War, Cott worked as a camouflage expert for the British Army and helped to influence War Office policy on camouflage. His book Adaptive Coloration in Animals (1940), popular among serving soldiers, was the major textbook on camouflage in zoology of the twentieth century. After the war, he became a Fellow of Selwyn College, Cambridge.

The Museum of Zoology has a number of Hugh Cott's works, striking black and white images of animals in their natural habitats, which we have developed into a range of beautiful products.