托福口语 Task 4

Today, we're going to talk about a fascinating behavioral adaptation in animals called 'mimicry.' Mimicry occurs when one species evolves to resemble another species in order to gain a survival advantage. There are two main types: Batesian mimicry and Müllerian mimicry. In Batesian mimicry, a harmless species imitates a dangerous or unpalatable one to fool predators. For example, the harmless milk snake has evolved to look like the venomous coral snake. Its red, yellow, and black banding pattern closely mirrors the coral snake's, so predators avoid it, even though it's not actually venomous. In contrast, Müllerian mimicry involves two or more dangerous species that resemble each other, which reinforces the warning signal to predators. For instance, the monarch butterfly and the viceroy butterfly both taste bad to birds. By looking alike, they share the cost of educating predators—if a bird tries to eat one and gets sick, it will avoid both species in the future. This mutual resemblance increases their collective survival.