托福口语 Task 4

Today we're going to talk about a fascinating concept in biology called 'mimicry,' where one species evolves to resemble another. There are two main types: defensive mimicry, where an animal avoids predators by looking like something dangerous or unpalatable, and aggressive mimicry, where a predator uses resemblance to lure prey. Let me give you two examples. First, the scarlet king snake, a harmless species, has bright red, yellow, and black bands that closely resemble the venomous coral snake. Predators learn to avoid the coral snake's warning colors, so they also avoid the king snake. This is defensive mimicry. Second, consider the anglerfish. It has a fleshy growth on its head that looks like a small worm or shrimp, and it dangles this in front of its mouth. When a curious fish approaches to eat the 'worm,' the anglerfish snaps it up. This is aggressive mimicry, where the predator uses a false appearance to attract its prey.