Mimicry in animals is a common form of protection from predators. For instance, two distasteful or toxic butterflies may mimic each other for mutual defense, as the viceroy and monarch butterflies do.

Mimicry occurs when an animal evolves an appearance that is similar to another animal. Although this seems simple enough at first glance, natural selection has found a number of interesting ways to ...

Birds are among the most intelligent and talkative animals in the entire world. Their babbling, chatty, and loose-lipped mimicry has inspired various stories from across all human cultures. However, ...

People love going to zoos. You get a close-up look at wild animals, might get to watch sea lions jump through a hoop, and just might be cussed out by an unruly gang of parrots. Wait, what? That’s ...

In 1862, British naturalist Henry Bates proposed -- but could not prove -- that over time, some animal and plant species that taste good to predators come to resemble other animals and plants that ...

Nature's survival often hinges on intelligence and deception rather than brute strength. Animals like the mimic octopus, lyrebird, and fork-tailed drongo employ remarkable tricks, from camouflage and ...

Some animals use or change their appearance as a survival mechanism. Here are the four types that camouflaged animals most commonly use. Animals use camouflage to avoid detection. Some do it to avoid ...

ON November 24, Prof. G. D. H. Carpenter, Hope professor of zoology in the University of Oxford, delivered the second part of his inaugural lecture (see NATURE of November 25, p. 813). Dealing with ...