托福口语 Task 4

Today we're going to talk about a fascinating concept in biology called 'mimicry'—specifically, how some animals have evolved to imitate other species for survival. Now, there are two main types of mimicry: Batesian and Müllerian. Batesian mimicry occurs when a harmless species imitates a dangerous one to fool predators. For example, the scarlet king snake is non-venomous, but it has bright red, yellow, and black bands very similar to the deadly coral snake. Predators learn to avoid the coral snake, and they also avoid the king snake because they look alike. On the other hand, Müllerian mimicry happens when two or more harmful species evolve to look similar, which reinforces the warning signal. For instance, several species of poisonous butterflies, like the monarch and the viceroy—well, actually, the viceroy is also toxic—share similar orange and black patterns. Predators learn quickly to avoid all butterflies with that pattern, benefiting all the species involved. So, the key difference is whether the mimic is harmless or also dangerous.