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Mimicry is an evolved resemblance between an organism and another object, often an organism of another species. Mimicry may evolve between different species, or between individuals of the same species. Often, mimicry functions to protect from predators. [11] Mimicry systems have three basic roles: a mimic, a model, and a dupe.
Aggressive mimicry stands in semantic contrast with defensive mimicry, where it is the prey that acts as a mimic, with predators being duped. Defensive mimicry includes the well-known Batesian and Müllerian forms of mimicry, where the mimic shares outward characteristics with an aposematic or harmful model. In Batesian mimicry, the mimic is ...
Mimicry is an adaptation by a species, called the mimic, making it resemble something else, called the model, with the effect of deceiving another species, the dupe. The three are not always all distinct, as mimicry can for example be within a species. [3] The adaptation is to the evolutionary advantage of the mimic.
Müllerian mimicry was first identified in tropical butterflies that shared colourful wing patterns, but it is found in many groups of insects such as bumblebees, and other animals such as poison frogs and coral snakes. The mimicry need not be visual; for example, many snakes share auditory warning signals. Similarly, the defences involved are ...
Equivalent to Batesian mimicry within a single species, it occurs when there is a palatability spectrum within a population of harmful prey. For example, monarch (Danaus plexippus) caterpillars feed on milkweed species of varying toxicity. Some feed on more toxic plants and store these toxins within themselves.
Most of these octopuses use Batesian mimicry, selecting an organism repulsive to predators as a model. [33] [34] In Müllerian mimicry, two or more aposematic forms share the same warning signals, [27] [35] as in viceroy and monarch butterflies. Birds avoid eating both species because their wing patterns honestly signal their unpleasant taste. [28]
The mechanism, analogous to Batesian mimicry, is found in insects such as the monarch butterfly. In another form, first noted by Edward B. Poulton in 1890, a less vulnerable part of an animal's body resembles a more vulnerable part, for example with deceptive eyespots or a false head that deflects attacks away from the real head, providing an ...
There are few well-studied examples of mimicry in vertebrates. [1] Still, many of the basic types of mimicry apply to vertebrates, especially among snakes. Batesian mimicry is rare among vertebrates but found in some reptiles (particularly snakes) and amphibians. [2] [3] Müllerian mimicry is found in some snakes, birds, amphibians, and fish.