托福口语 Task 4

Today, we're going to talk about a fascinating behavior in the animal kingdom called 'mimicry'—where one species evolves to look or act like another. There are two main types: protective mimicry and aggressive mimicry. Protective mimicry occurs when a harmless species resembles a dangerous one to avoid predators. For instance, the scarlet king snake, which is non-venomous, has bright red, yellow, and black bands very similar to the deadly coral snake. Predators, like birds, learn to avoid the coral snake's warning colors, and they also avoid the king snake, thinking it's dangerous. On the other hand, aggressive mimicry is when a predator mimics a harmless or attractive species to lure prey. Consider the anglerfish, which lives in the deep ocean. It has a fleshy growth on its head that glows and wiggles like a small fish. When smaller fish are attracted to this 'bait,' the anglerfish snaps them up. So, mimicry is not just about hiding—it can be a clever hunting strategy.