the.com/mimicry
evolution's plagiarism, where survival goes to whoever fakes it best.
means The act of imitating or copying something else — whether a person mimicking speech and gestures, or an organism evolving to resemble another creature or its surroundings for protection.
from From Greek 'mimos,' an actor or imitator — the same root that gives us 'mime' and 'mimic.' The English 'mimicry' is built on 'mimic' (which arrived via Latin 'mimicus') with the noun-making '-ry' tacked on. So at its heart sits a Greek stage performer, aping life so well the word eventually stretched to cover butterflies pretending to be poisonous and insects dressed as twigs.
- harmless bluff
- Edible flies copy wasp stripes to scare predators
- perfect copies
- Mimic octopus impersonates sea snakes and lionfish on demand
- vocal theft
- Lyrebirds reproduce chainsaws and camera shutters flawlessly
- flower fraud
- Some orchids fake female bees to trick pollinators
- deadly disguise
- Harmless snakes copy coral snake colors to survive
stick insect — insect that looks identical to twigs and branches it sits on, fooling predators for millions of years
viceroy butterfly — north american butterfly that evolved to look like the toxic monarch butterfly to avoid being eaten
hoverfly — harmless fly with yellow and black stripes that mimics dangerous wasps and bees to deter predators
anglerfish — deep sea fish where the female uses a bioluminescent lure that mimics small prey to attract larger fish