Mimicry, Not Camouflage

In my first post I discussed what camouflage is, but I made a mistake in saying that camouflage and mimicry are the same thing. I am dedicating this post to correcting my error and talking about the organisms that use mimicry, rather than camouflage to survive.

Camouflage is when an organism blends in with its background, essentially hiding its whereabouts (Skelhorn & Rowe 2016). Whereas, mimicry is when an organism copies another organism’s characteristics. Often the organism that is being replicated has some sort of toxin or is unpalatable to predators (Ruxton et al., 2004). Like camouflage, mimicry evolved from the need for protection from predators or increased access to prey (Outomuro et al., 2016).

Mimicry was first described by Bates in 1862 when he realised Amazonian butterflies had been incorrectly defined (Bates, 1862). He was amazed to find that one species mimicked the colours and features of the more toxic butterfly. This allowed the non-toxic butterfly to gain evolutionary advantage alongside the deadlier butterfly (Ruxton et al., 2004). Remarkably, it has been found that some species that may look extremely similar are in fact phylogenetically distant (Outomuro et al., 2016). This has come to be known at Batesian mimicry, while there are many other forms of mimicry. 

Protective mimicry is, as described above, where an organism uses mimicry to protect itself from predators (Skelhorn & Rowe. 2016). A similar protective mimicry is called masquerading, this is when an organism replicates something that is of no interest to the predator such as, sticks, leaves and even bird droppings (Ruxton et al., 2004).

Another form of mimicry is aggressive mimicry, when a copycat organism uses the characteristic of another organism to gain access to its prey (Ruxton et al., 2004). The organism that uses aggressive mimicry can be a predator, parasite or parotoid (Ruxton et al., 2004). There are various methods of aggressive mimicry including, luring prey and appearing to be food such as the alligator snapper (Macrochelys temmincki; Columbia Encyclopedia, 2018). The alligator snapper is a turtle which has a muscle on its tongue that resembles a worm. The turtle holds its mouth open while underwater to attract fish as its body is hidden in the mud at the bottom of the river.

                                                  Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macrochelys temmincki)

Next week I will introduce you to more examples of mimicry.

References

Bates W., (1862). Contributions to an insect fauna of the Amazon valley (Lepidoptera: Heliconidae). Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. 23, 495–566.

Columbia Encyclopedia. (2018). Snapping Turtle. Viewed on 26^th April 2019 on https://search-credoreference-com.elibrary.jcu.edu.au/content/entry/columency/snapping_turtle/0.

Outomuro D., Angel-Giraldo P., Corral-Lopez A., & Realpe E. (2016). Multitrait Aposematic Signal in Batesian Mimicry. Evolution. 70(7), 1596.

Ruxton G., Sherratt T., & Speed M. (2004). Avoiding Attack: The Evolutionary Ecology of Crypsis, Warning Signals and Mimicry. Oxford University Press. Oxford, United Kingdom.

Skelhorn J., & Rowe C. (2016). Cognition and the Evolution of Camouflage. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B. 283(1825), 20152890.