We are all familiar with the element of disguise: dressing like others in your surroundings, blending in, and going unnoticed. We also enjoy dressing in costume for parties and Halloween: assuming a new appearance and identity can be empowering! Animals do this too, though not by conscious choice. Mimicry occurs when one animal displays physical or behavioral traits that copy those of a different species or their surroundings, and incur a survival advantage on account of it. Animals don't necessarily mimic other animals; often, they mimic plants or rocks.
The famous saying “what you see is not when you get” does not only apply to us humans but to animals as well. Living things have evolved some very unique and fascinating ways to trick predators and competitors. Mimicry is one such tactic. They are three broad categories of mimicry, they include; batesian , muellerian and self-mimicry.
They are different types of mimicry but we will focus on one of them for today, batesian mimicry.Batesian mimics are not your typical Chriss Angel, Harry Houdini or Dynamo (those are famous magicians) but evolution has made them to what they are today. In a nutshell batesian mimicry can be described as, when an animal (the mimic) resembles the appearance of a much more dangerous animal (the model) to protect itself from predators. Let’s get into it then.
The most iconic mimic is the mimic octopus. Most mimic animals mimic just one animal but the mimic octopus mimics a variety of animals and can switch between them rapidly. When swimming on the ocean floor they pull their arms back and swim sideways to mimic the banded sole, a type of flat fish that has poisonous glands underneath its fins.
(mimic octopus)
When swimming on the ocean floor they pull their arms back and swim sideways to mimic the banded sole, a type of flat fish that has poisonous glands underneath its fins.
(Banded sole)
(mimic octopus mimicing banded sole)
When swimming in open water they spread their arms out to mimic the venomous lion fish.
( lion fish)
(mimic octopus mimicing lion fish in open water)
But perhaps most impressively in an act of defence the octopus tucks into a hole, sticking just two arms out (that display black bands) and rippling them in opposite directions, mimicking the highly venomous sea krait. This is a poisonous sea snake with the ability to kill a full-grown human.
(mimic octopus mimicing sea krait)
(Picture above: Sea krait)
(Hover fly mimicing bee)
Similarly, the picture above is not of a bee it’s a hover fly. Their resemblance helps deter predation since bees have very few natural predators.
(mantis mimicing an ant)
This is not an ant. It is a praying mantis. Just like the hoverfly, its appearance is meant to deter predation. The question is how? Ants are less tasty to predators than mantis so by looking like an ant predator may choose to ignore them.
A hawk moth caterpillar is another amazing character. When startled, these crawlers can instantaneously transform into snake-like creatures, puffing out the front part of their bodies to rearrange their hidden yellow, white, and black spots. The look is complete with eye-like spots, faux reptilian scales, and a convincing, serpentine curve.
(caterpillar mimicing pit viper)
Finally, cheetah cubs have white hair on their backs to resemble honey badgers. This usually protects them from predators like hyenas and lions that might hunt them. This is most helpful when the mother is away hunting.
コメント