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Batesian Mimicry Definition

Have you ever wondered how some animals avoid being eaten by their predators? Sometimes, animals have anti-predator adaptations that allow them to escape being eaten. One well-known anti-predator adaptation is Batesian mimicry. This describes a relationship where one organism that is harmless has evolved aposematic coloration that mimics a noxious species. A noxious species has some sort of harmful or damaging protection, and aposematic coloration is a distinctive warning marking that sets the noxious species apart and makes it easily identifiable. By imitating a harmful species, the mimic can avoid predation.

It's useful to know about Batesian mimicry for a couple of different reasons. First, if you're stuck in the wilderness and looking for something to eat, it's good to know which animals or plants could make you sick by eating them. The second, and this is probably the most important, has to do with venomous animals. There are several examples of venomous snakes that display Batesian mimicry. It's always good to know which is the harmless species and which is the species that could really hurt you!

Background

Dr. Henry Walter Bates was an English naturalist who introduced the world to the concept of mimicry. When he returned from his most famous expedition in the Amazon rainforest from 1848 to 1859, he brought back thousands of species, many of which had never been seen before. Dr. Bates discovered that some species, which he knew not to be harmful when eaten, greatly resembled some species that he knew were toxic when eaten. Thus, the concept of Batesian mimicry, named for Dr. Bates, was born.

Examples

There are three excellent examples of Batesian mimicry that illustrate this concept well and explain a couple different scenarios when mimicry is helpful to the organism. The first focuses on two butterflies. The monarch butterfly is poisonous when eaten, and the viceroy butterfly, the mimic, is not. Animals that eat butterflies, including birds, frogs, and toads, sense that the monarch butterfly is poisonous by its bright orange color. The viceroy butterfly takes advantage of this coloration to avoid being eaten!

The second example is the poisonous coral snake and the king snake, which is the mimic. Coral snakes are quite venomous, and their bite is very dangerous to humans and other animals. King snakes, on the other hand, are harmless. While they don't look exactly alike - the color patterns are slightly different - this is an example where animals steer clear of coral snakes to avoid being bitten and because the king snake has similar coloration, organisms will most likely stay away from this species as well!

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batesian mimicry: examples & definition - video & lesson transcript | study.com

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Batesian Mimicry: Examples & Definition - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

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Have you ever wondered how some animals avoid being eaten by their predators? Sometimes, animals have anti-predator adaptations that allow them to escape being eaten. One well-known anti-predator adaptation is Batesian mimicry. This describes a relationship where one organism that is harmless has evolved aposematic coloration that mimics a noxious species.

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Resources for Survival

Every species requires resources to survive. Plants get their resources, namely nutrients like nitrogen and water, from the surrounding soil. Additionally, they get the light necessary to complete photosynthesis from the sun. Animals, on the other hand, have to put a bit more effort into things. Of course, animals have the great advantage of being mobile.

Still, that mobility can be a double-edged sword, because it requires animals to use extra resources. Think about it like this - do you have a bigger appetite after sitting on the sofa all day, or after running around playing soccer or football? Trying to find the balance between looking for resources and not using up all those resources is an example of the optimal foraging theory.

The Optimal Foraging Theory

At its core, the basic belief of the optimal foraging theory is that you shouldn't consume more than you can take in. Better yet, you should always try to find ways to more effectively gather resources without having to consume additional resources. Imagine the optimal foraging theory like a car. If you stop putting gasoline in the car, it eventually stops and won't go on any further. For animals, that means that they are incapacitated, and unless someone brings them food, they will die.

But you wouldn't let your car run out of gas, would you? In fact, you probably know exactly where the nearest gas stations are to your house. When your car is low on gas and you're home, you go to one of those gas stations rather than one ten miles away. The optimal foraging theory states that you will go to those gas stations near your house when you are low on gas, rather than wasting a bunch of time going to a gas station across town just for the fun of it.

Examples of the Theory

Before you think that the optimal foraging theory somehow requires extra work, let's slow down and think about two examples of animals that aren't exactly known for being perpetually hardworking. The first is the lion. Sure, they are the baddest predators on the savanna, but if you've ever watched any documentaries on them, they are actually pretty inactive. They sleep up to 20 hours a day, and the general agreement is that the male lions protect the community while the female lions do all the hunting.

Even the female lions only really are active when they have a high likelihood of gaining resources in the form of a tasty zebra. We don't see lions chasing cheetahs for the sheer joy of it, as it would be a waste of resources! Likewise, we don't really see male lions doing anything except defending the pride, because that would be a waste of resources.

Changing Conditions

Sure, lions have the fierceness to be that lazy most of the time. After all, only a truly crazy hyena would attack a bunch of lions. But what about a squirrel? Squirrels are actually a perfect example of how animals adjust to changing conditions. During the late summer and fall, squirrels are horribly busy. In fact, it would seem that they are ignoring the optimal foraging theory due to the sheer amount of energy that they are using.

However, squirrels are merely preparing for what they know is coming. During the winter, squirrels are rarely seen. Instead, they are enjoying the large caches of mixed nuts and acorns that they have stashed away. In short, they expend next to no resources during this time but have plenty of resources at their disposal.

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optimal foraging theory & its impact on animal behavior - video & lesson transcript | study.com

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Optimal Foraging Theory & Its Impact on Animal Behavior - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

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Every species requires resources to survive. Plants get their resources, namely nutrients like nitrogen and water, from the surrounding soil. Additionally, they get the light necessary to complete photosynthesis from the sun. Animals, on the other hand, have to put a bit more effort into things.

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3. Essential For Our Survival
Whether you live in rural Newfoundland or downtown Los Angeles, your dependence on Ecosystem Services is the same. As a society, we depend on healthy ecosystems to do many things; to purify the air so we can breathe properly, sequester carbon for climate regulation, cycle nutrients so we have access to clean drinking water without costly infrastructure, and pollinate our crops so we don’t go hungry.

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2. The Foundation For Sustainable Development
Ecosystem Services help measure the true cost of industrial development. Often, the impact industrial development has on the economy and job creation overshadows the cost it will have on surrounding lakes, forests, keystone species, and so on. Assigning a dollar value to these lakes and forests, and the Ecosystem Services they provide, helps adjust the cost benefit analysis by evaluating the negative effects development will have on the natural environment.

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1. Boundless Benefits
Understanding nature in economic terms, while not perfect, allows us to put everything into the same comparison unit. Despite nature being such an integral part of the human existence, it is sometimes an after-thought in today’s economy. Nature and money are often on competing terms, so to make a more level playing field, environmental economists have tried to bridge this gap by placing a monetary value on the benefits nature provides.

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An ecosystem is made up of animals, plants and bacteria as well as the physical and chemical environment they live in. The living parts of an ecosystem are called factors while the environmental factors that they interact with are called antibiotic factors.

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The branch of biology that deals with the relations of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings.