Mimicry in vertebrates

Batesian mimicry occurs in multiple vertebrates, but is less prevalent in mammals due to a relative rarity of well-marked harmful models.

However, this form of mimicry is prevalent in snakes and frogs, where chemical defense has coevolved with distinct coloration.

The honey badger has a white or silvery back with a black or brownish underbelly and grows to a body length of about three feet long and ten inches high.

Due to this conspicuous coloration, potential predators like lions and birds of prey are less likely to hunt cheetah cubs, as from a distance they appear to be honey badgers.

Honey badgers make an effective model because their aggressive nature and glands on their tails that produce a noxious fluid enable them to deter predators up to 10x their size.

This species resembles the venomous coral snake, sharing a pattern of red, black, and yellow bands.

Although the order of the color rings differ between the two snakes, from a distance a predator can easily mistake the scarlet kingsnake for its venomous model.

Again, the relative lack of noxious models limits most examples to systems that involve reptiles or amphibians.

This example of Müllerian mimicry is likely unique to vertebrates due to its multiple modalities: biochemical, behavioral, visual, and auditory.

Most examples of aggressive mimicry involve the predator employing a signal to lure its prey towards it under the promise of food, sex, or other rewards—much like the idiom of a wolf in sheep's clothing.

By mimicking invertebrate larva, the predator attracts prey of small vertebrates such as frogs, lizards, and birds.

Sidewinder rattlesnakes, puff adders, lanceheads, and multiple other ambush-predatory snakes use caudal luring to attract prey.

The false cleanerfish, Aspidontus taeniatus, is a fin-eating blenny that has evolved to resemble a local species of cleaner wrasse, Labroides dimidiatus, which engages in mutualistic cleaning with larger fish.

For example, the sidewinder rattlesnake ceases aggressive behavior upon the arrival of a predatory toad and begins species-typical defensive displays.

Different species of cuckoo hatchlings have been known to mimic the acoustic sound, such as during begging, and appearance of the host offspring.

[19][20][21][22] Unlike most vertebrates that perform aggressive mimicry, certain brood parasitic birds display signals of two distinct modalities at the same time.

For example, Horsfield's bronze cuckoo nestlings have been found to employ both acoustic and visual sensory modalities at the same time to increase efficiency and success of their mimicry.

Alternatively, it may have evolved for the advantage it bestows upon sexually indistinguishable cubs, which experience a high level of female-targeted infanticide.

Eyespots are a form of automimicry in which an organism displays false eyes on a different part of its body, considered to be an aversion to predators who believe the prey animal has spotted them or is behaving aggressively, even when they are actually facing the other direction and unaware.

[1][10][28] Large size makes any imprecision much more noticeable to the naked eye, slowing or preventing the evolution of mimicry.

[1][2][3][29] The assumption of scarcity in vertebrate mimetic resemblances is largely limited due to human perception.