Some animals have certain shapes and colors that are confused with the environment in which they live or with other organisms, some are able to change color momentarily and adopt various shapes, so they are very difficult to find and are often the subject of fun.optical illusions.
Mimicry and cryptography are fundamental mechanisms for the survival of many species and have resulted in animals of very different shapes and colors. You want to know more? In this Animal Expert article, we show everything about animal mimicry: definition, types and examples.
- Mimicry occurs when some living beings resemble other organisms with which they are not necessarily directly related.
- As a result.
- These living beings confuse their predators or prey.
- Causing a reaction of attraction or withdrawal.
For most authors, mimicry and encryption are different mechanisms. The crypt, as we will see, is the process by which certain living beings are camouflaged in the environment around them, thanks to their similar colors and patterns, this is called cryptic coloration.
Mimicry and cryptography are mechanisms for adapting living things to the environment.
There is controversy in the scientific world about what can and cannot be considered mimicry. In this article, we will examine the strictest types of animal mimicry:
Finally, we will see some animals that are camouflaged in the environment thanks to a cryptic coloration.
Melerian mimicry occurs when two or more species have the same color and/or shape pattern, in addition, both have defense mechanisms against their predators, such as bites, presence of poison or a very unpleasant taste.predators learn to recognize this pattern and do not attack any of the species affected by it.
The result of this type of animal mimicry is that both prey species survive and can transmit their genes to their offspring.The predator also wins, because it can more easily learn which species are dangerous.
Examples of Mullerian mimicry
Some organisms that exhibit this type of mimicry include:
As you can see, these animals have a very striking coloration that captures the attention of the predator, alerting them to danger or bad taste, this mechanism is called aposmatism and is the opposite of encryption, a camouflage process that we will see later.
Aposmatism is a type of communication between animals
Batsian mimicry occurs when two or more species are symmetrical and very similar in appearance, but in reality, only one species of copy is armed with defense mechanisms against predators, the other being known as a copy species.
The result of this type of mimicry is that the copious species is identified as dangerous by the predator, however, it is not dangerous or in bad taste, it is only an “impostor”, which saves the species the energy it would need to invest in defense mechanisms..
Examples of Batsian mimicry
Some animals that exhibit this type of mimicry are:
Although we tend to consider mimicry as visual, there are many other types of mimicry, such as olfactory and auditory.
The best example of olfactory mimicry is that of flowers that emit odorous substances very similar to bee pheromones, so males approach the flower thinking it is a female and therefore pollinate it, is the case of the genus Ophrys (orchids).
As for acoustic imitation, one example is the brown acanthiza (Acanthiza pusilla), an Australian bird that mimics the warning signs of other birds, so when attacked by a medium-sized predator it mimics the signals of other species as it approaches a falcon.As a result, the average predator flees or takes longer to attack.
Some animals have color patterns or drawings that allow them to mingle with the surrounding environment, thus passing unnoticed by other animals, this mechanism is known as criptis or cryptic coloration.
The kings of the crypt are undoubtedly the chameleons (family of the Chamaeleonidae), these reptiles are able to change the color of their skin according to the environment in which they are, they do so through nanocrystals that come together and separate reflecting different wavelengths.In this other Animal Expert article, you can learn how the chameleon changes color.
The number of animals camouflaged in nature through a cryptic coloration is innumerable, here are some examples:
If you would like to read articles similar to Animal Mimicry: definition, types and examples, we recommend that you visit our Curiosities section of the animal world.