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Batesian Mimicry

Batesian mimicry is a form of mimicry where a harmless species has evolved to imitate the warning signals of a harmful species directed at a predator of them both. It is named after the English naturalist Henry Walter Bates, after his work on butterflies in the rainforests of Brazil.

[...]

The imitating species is called the mimic, while the imitated species (protected by its toxicity, foul taste or other defenses) is known as the model. The predatory species mediating indirect interactions between the mimic and the model is variously known as the [signal] receiver, dupe or operator. By parasitizing the honest warning signal of the model, the Batesian mimic gains an advantage, without having to go to the expense of arming itself. The model, on the other hand, is disadvantaged, along with the dupe. If impostors appear in high numbers, positive experiences with the mimic may result in the model being treated as harmless. At higher frequency there is also a stronger selective advantage for the predator to distinguish mimic from model. For this reason, mimics are usually less numerous than models, an instance of frequency dependent selection. Some mimetic populations have evolved multiple forms (polymorphism), enabling them to mimic several different models and thereby to gain greater protection.

Full Article:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batesian_mimicry
 
Really? If you watch it looks like it was cut nothing there suggests it's in real time or that monkey was terrified or it ever witnessed the snake/caterpillar/insect thing.

It's two different things. Jeez, stop believing everything on Twitter.
 
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That monkey was saying "WTF!??!"
Just maybe not about the caterpillar.
 
Naughty_Felid said:
Really? If you watch it looks like it was cut nothing there suggests it's in real time or that monkey was terrified or it ever witnessed the snake/caterpillar/insect thing.

It's two different things. Jeez, stop believing everything on Twitter.
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Whether or not the video was edited to give a false impression, I've no way of knowing, but the technique has been observed in response to potential predators:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/hawk-moth-caterpillar-snake-untamed-spd

This source does not feature Twitter.
 
Yithian said:
Batesian mimicry is a form of mimicry where a harmless species has evolved to imitate the warning signals of a harmful species directed at a predator of them both. It is named after the English naturalist Henry Walter Bates, after his work on butterflies in the rainforests of Brazil.

[...]

The imitating species is called the mimic, while the imitated species (protected by its toxicity, foul taste or other defenses) is known as the model. The predatory species mediating indirect interactions between the mimic and the model is variously known as the [signal] receiver, dupe or operator. By parasitizing the honest warning signal of the model, the Batesian mimic gains an advantage, without having to go to the expense of arming itself. The model, on the other hand, is disadvantaged, along with the dupe. If impostors appear in high numbers, positive experiences with the mimic may result in the model being treated as harmless. At higher frequency there is also a stronger selective advantage for the predator to distinguish mimic from model. For this reason, mimics are usually less numerous than models, an instance of frequency dependent selection. Some mimetic populations have evolved multiple forms (polymorphism), enabling them to mimic several different models and thereby to gain greater protection.

Full Article:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batesian_mimicry
Click to expand...
Or to put it simply Batesian mimicry is bluff.
 
gordonrutter said:
Or to put it simply Batesian mimicry is bluff.
Click to expand...

More specifically - a bluff involving impersonation of an undesirable or threatening thing so as to induce an aversion response.
 
Newly published research results indicate bats buzz like wasps or hornets to ward off avian predators like owls.
A Never-Before-Seen Mimicry Trick Has Just Been Recorded in Buzzing Bats

Scientists have discovered a clever mimicry trick used by some bats: they'll buzz like hornets when they think they're under threat from predators, giving the sonic impression they're more dangerous than they actually are.

It's the first time behavior like this has been recorded in mammals, but it happens elsewhere in the animal kingdom ... The technical term for it is Batesian mimicry. ...

"In Batesian mimicry, a non-armed species imitates an armed one to deter predators," says ecologist Danilo Russo ...

"Imagine a bat that has been seized but not killed by the predator. Buzzing might deceive the predator for a fraction of a second – enough to fly away."

It was during work in the field that Russo and his colleagues noticed greater mouse-eared bats (Myotis myotis) making buzzing sounds whenever the researchers handled animals that had been caught in nets. It seemed like some kind of distress call, but it wasn't until years later that work for this study got underway.

To confirm their hunch about the buzzing being a type of Batesian mimicry, the researchers compared the strong similarities between the buzzing sounds emitted by the bats and stinging social hymenopteran insects (such as wasps and bees).

They then played these sounds to some bat-eating predators: wild owls and owls raised in captivity. While the reactions varied – perhaps due to the birds' previous experiences – there was also some general consistency when it came to buzzing from both insects and bats, and to standard, non-buzzing bat sounds.

"Owls consistently reacted to hymenopteran and bat buzzes in the same way, by increasing the distance from the speaker," write the researchers in their published paper.

"Whereas they approached the latter in response to the control stimulus, as expected from a non-mimetic vocalization produced by potential prey."

The owls who hadn't been raised in captivity showed the strongest adverse reaction to both bat and insect buzzing, as they're likely more knowledgeable about potential harms than owls bred in captivity.

One other notable finding: when the acoustics were analyzed to show only sounds that owls can hear, the similarities to insects were more pronounced. ...
Click to expand...
FULL STORY: https://www.sciencealert.com/bats-h...ick-for-putting-off-predators-new-study-shows
 
Here are the bibliographic details and summary for the published research report. The full report is accessible at the link below.

Leonardo Ancillotto, Donatella Pafundi, Federico Cappa et al.
Bats mimic hymenopteran insect sounds to deter predators
Current Biology, VOLUME 32, ISSUE 9, PR408-R409, MAY 09, 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.03.052

Summary
Mimicry is one of the most fascinating phenomena in nature1. Mimicry traits often reflect complex, finely tuned, and sometimes extravagant relationships among species and have evolved to deceive predators or prey. Indeed, mimicry has most often evolved to discourage predation: the ‘mimic’ exhibits phenotypic convergence towards a non-related ‘model’ organism which is inedible or harmful, so that a given predator, or ‘receiver’, will refrain from attacking or ingesting the mimic. Traditionally, mimicry is mainly evident and has been mainly studied in the visual domain. Here, we report experiments that document the first case of interspecific acoustic mimicry in a mammal and demonstrate that the distress calls the greater mouse-eared bat (Myotis myotis) broadcasts when handled imitate sounds of stinging bees or wasps to discourage the bat’s avian predators.

SOURCE: https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(22)00486-9
 
EnolaGaia said:
Newly published research results indicate bats buzz like wasps or hornets to ward off avian predators like owls. ...
FULL STORY: https://www.sciencealert.com/bats-h...ick-for-putting-off-predators-new-study-shows
Click to expand...

Here's the full transcript of a Scientific American podcast interview with Danilo Russo (one of the cited study's co-authors). Russo relates the series of events and experiments that led to the conclusion the bats' buzzing-like-bees behavior represented an active use of defensive mimicry.

The audio podcast (including illustrative sound bites of the bats' buzzing) is accessible at the same webpage.

These Bats Buzz Like Bees to Save Their Own Lives
https://www.scientificamerican.com/...-bats-buzz-like-bees-to-save-their-own-lives/
 
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