Biological mimicry is a biological process in which one organism evolves traits that closely resemble those of another organism or environmental feature, thereby altering interactions with predators, prey, hosts, or mutualists. It arises through natural selection acting on heritable variation in phenotypes that confer fitness advantages via deception, such as reduced predation, enhanced pollination, or improved parasitism. Mechanistically, mimicry can involve convergence in morphology, coloration, behavior, chemical signaling, or acoustic patterns, and typically functions within coevolutionary networks. Major forms include Batesian, Müllerian, and aggressive mimicry, each characterized by distinct selective regimes and ecological roles in signal production, perception, and evolutionary stability.
Just like a human newborn, coral larvae need just the right environment to settle and begin their new life. Understanding the ideal surface geometry for coral settlement and early growth was the shared goal of a new research ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 23, 2026
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Rove beetles have evolved a neat trick to survive. They cloak themselves in ant pheromones, allowing them to enter and remain undetected within ant colonies. But it comes with a catch. Once a rove beetle lineage evolves this ...
For decades, scientists have tried to answer a simple question: why be honest when deception is possible? Whether it is a peacock's tail, a stag's roar, or a human's résumé, signals are means to influence others by transmitting ...
Evolution
Feb 4, 2026
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No ears, no problem. The tobacco hornworm caterpillar, a common garden pest, can actually detect airborne sound via microscopic hairs on its body, according to a team of faculty and graduate students at Binghamton University. ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 28, 2026
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52
In the early 1990s, Keith Willmott and a friend, both undergraduate students from the United Kingdom, arrived in Ecuador with impressionable minds and big aspirations. Willmott initially imagined there might be 20 to 30 butterfly ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 28, 2026
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Drawing inspiration from the remarkable adaptability of the human eye, researchers from the Institute of Metal Research (IMR) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a novel phototransistor with tunable sensitivity.
Optics & Photonics
Jan 18, 2026
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Scientists built a robot to help explain how a tropical bat spots insects perched on leaves using echolocation, a highly sophisticated behavior that requires precise, split-second decision making on the part of the hunting ...
Ecology
Jan 14, 2026
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Evolutionarily speaking, the ultimate goal of a lifeform is to reproduce and stave off extinction. Many plants and animals have evolved unique tricks to do so. One of these tricks is mimicry, which might be used to trick ...
Stanford researchers have developed a flexible material that can quickly change its surface texture and colors, offering potential applications in camouflage, art, robotics, and even nanoscale bioengineering.
Nanophysics
Jan 7, 2026
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60
Insect pupae hiss like snakes for defense. A Kobe University team now reveals the mechanisms, opening the door to further studies involving predator reactions to defensive sounds.
Plants & Animals
Dec 7, 2025
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