Batesian mimicry

zoology

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Key People:: H.W. Bates

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Batesian mimicry, a form of biological resemblance in which a noxious, or dangerous, organism (the model), equipped with a warning system such as conspicuous coloration, is mimicked by a harmless organism (the mimic). The mimic gains protection because predators mistake it for the model and leave it alone. This form of mimicry is named for its discoverer, the 19th-century English naturalist H.W. Bates. Compare Müllerian mimicry.

Müllerian mimicry

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Müllerian mimicry

biology

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Müllerian mimicry, a form of biological resemblance in which two or more unrelated noxious, or dangerous, organisms exhibit closely similar warning systems, such as the same pattern of bright colours. According to the widely accepted theory advanced in 1878 by the German naturalist Fritz Müller, this resemblance, although differing from the better-known Batesian mimicry (in which one organism is not noxious), should be considered mimicry nonetheless, because a predator that has learned to avoid an organism with a given warning system will avoid all similar organisms, thus making the resemblance a protective mechanism.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.