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Mertensian Mimicry
Emsleyan mimicry, also called Mertensian mimicry, describes an unusual type of mimicry where a deadly prey mimics a less dangerous species. History Emsleyan mimicry was first proposed by M. G. Emsley as a possible explanation for how a predator species could learn to avoid an aposematic phenotype of potentially dangerous animals, such as the coral snake, when the predator is likely to die on its first encounter. The theory was developed by the German biologist Wolfgang Wickler in a chapter of ''Mimicry in Plants and Animals'', who named it after the German herpetologist Robert Mertens. Sheppard points out that Hecht and Marien had put forward a similar hypothesis ten years earlier. Mimicry of a less deadly species The scenario for Emsleyan mimicry is a little more difficult to understand than for other types of mimicry, since in other types of mimicry it is usually the most harmful species that is the model. But if a predator dies, it cannot learn to recognize a warning si ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Micrurus Tener
''Micrurus tener'', commonly known as the Texas coral snake, is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae. The species is endemic to the southern United States and northeastern and central Mexico. Five subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies, ''Micrurus tener tener'', which is found in both the US and Mexico, and is also commonly known as the Texas coral snake. The species ''Micrurus tener'' was once considered to be a subspecies of the eastern coral snake ('' Micrurus fulvius''). Geographic range ''M. tener'' ranges from the southern United States south to northeastern and central Mexico. It inhabits the states of Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas, and the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí, Guanajuato, Querétaro and Morelos. Description The Texas coral snake has the traditional coloration associated with coral snakes: black, yellow, and red rings. It is capable of growing to 48 in (122 cm) in total length (inc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Science (journal)
''Science'', also widely referred to as ''Science Magazine'', is the peer-reviewed academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and one of the world's top academic journals. It was first published in 1880, is currently circulated weekly and has a subscriber base of around 130,000. Because institutional subscriptions and online access serve a larger audience, its estimated readership is over 400,000 people. ''Science'' is based in Washington, D.C., United States, with a second office in Cambridge, UK. Contents The major focus of the journal is publishing important original scientific research and research reviews, but ''Science'' also publishes science-related news, opinions on science policy and other matters of interest to scientists and others who are concerned with the wide implications of science and technology. Unlike most scientific journals, which focus on a specific field, ''Science'' and its rival ''Nature (journal), Nature'' c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coral Snakes
Coral snakes are a large group of elapid snakes that can be divided into two distinct groups, the Old World coral snakes and New World coral snakes. There are 16 species of Old World coral snakes, in three genera (''Calliophis'', '' Hemibungarus'', and ''Sinomicrurus''), and over 65 recognized species of New World coral snakes, in two genera (''Micruroides'' and ''Micrurus''). Genetic studies have found that the most basal lineages have origins in Asia, suggesting that the group originated in the Old World. While new world species of both genera are venomous, their bites are seldom lethal; only two confirmed fatalities have been documented in the past 100 years from the genus ''Micrurus''. Meanwhile, snakes of the genus ''Micruroides'' have never caused a medically-significant bite. North American coloration patterns Experts now recognize that certain coloration patterns and common mnemonics - such as the phrase “Red touch yellow, kill a fellow; red touch black, you’re good, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
False Coral Snakes
False coral may refer to many species of snakes, including: *several species of the genus ''Erythrolamprus'': ** ''Erythrolamprus aesculapii'', a mildly venomous colubrid snake species found in South America. ** ''Erythrolamprus bizona'', a harmless colubrid snake species found in South America. ** ''Erythrolamprus ocellatus'', a.k.a. the Tobago false coral, a harmless colubrid snake species found on the island of Tobago. *several of species of the genus ''Oxyrhopus'': ** ''Oxyrhopus guibei'', a nonvenomous South American snake. ** ''Oxyrhopus petola'', a mildly venomous colubrid snake species found in South America. *both species of the genus '' Pliocercus'' *the family Aniliidae, which contains one species False coral may also refer to a species of bryozoan, ''Myriapora truncata ''Myriapora truncata'', also known by its common name false coral is a species from the genus '' Myriapora''. The species was originally described by Peter Simon Pallas in 1766. Description ''Myria ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Milk Snake
The milk snake or milksnake (''Lampropeltis triangulum''), is a species of kingsnake; 24 subspecies are currently recognized. ''Lampropeltis elapsoides'', the scarlet kingsnake, was formerly classified as a 25th subspecies (''L. t. elapsoides''), but is now recognized as a distinct species. The subspecies have strikingly different appearances, and many of them have their own common names. Some authorities suggest that this species could be split into several separate species. They are not venomous to humans. Geographic range Milk snakes can be found from the southeastern extreme of Canada through the eastern half of the United States. Habitat Across the wide range of this species, habitat varies. Typically, milk snakes live in forested regions; however, they can also be found in swamps, prairie, farmland, rocky slopes, and sand dunes/beaches. In some situations, milk snakes also migrate seasonally, during the winter they move to higher and drier habitats for hibernation and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Millipede
Millipedes are a group of arthropods that are characterised by having two pairs of jointed legs on most body segments; they are known scientifically as the class Diplopoda, the name derived from this feature. Each double-legged segment is a result of two single segments fused together. Most millipedes have very elongated cylindrical or flattened bodies with more than 20 segments, while pill millipedes are shorter and can roll into a tight ball. Although the name "millipede" derives from the Latin for "thousand feet", no species was known to have 1,000 or more until the discovery of ''Eumillipes persephone'', which can have over 1,300 legs. There are approximately 12,000 named species classified into 16 orders and around 140 families, making Diplopoda the largest class of myriapods, an arthropod group which also includes centipedes and other multi-legged creatures. Most millipedes are slow-moving detritivores, eating decaying leaves and other dead plant matter. Some eat fungi or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alarm Call
In animal communication, an alarm signal is an antipredator adaptation in the form of signals emitted by social animals in response to danger. Many primates and birds have elaborate alarm calls for warning conspecifics of approaching predators. For example, the alarm call of the blackbird is a familiar sound in many gardens. Other animals, like fish and insects, may use non-auditory signals, such as chemical messages. Visual signs such as the white tail flashes of many deer have been suggested as alarm signals; they are less likely to be received by conspecifics, so have tended to be treated as a signal to the predator instead. Different calls may be used for predators on the ground or from the air. Often, the animals can tell which member of the group is making the call, so that they can disregard those of little reliability. Evidently, alarm signals promote survival by allowing the receivers of the alarm to escape from the source of peril; this can evolve by kin selection, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turquoise-browed Motmot
The turquoise-browed motmot (''Eumomota superciliosa'') also known as torogoz, is a colourful, medium-sized bird of the motmot family, Momotidae. It inhabits Central America from south-east Mexico (mostly the Yucatán Peninsula), to Costa Rica, where it is common and not considered threatened. It lives in fairly open habitats such as forest edge, gallery forest and scrubland. It is more conspicuous than other motmots, often perching in the open on wires and fences. From these perches it scans for prey, such as insects and small reptiles. White eggs (3–6) are laid in a long tunnel nest in an earth bank or sometimes in a quarry or fresh-water well. Its name originates from the turquoise color of its brow. It is the national bird of both El Salvador and Nicaragua, where it is known as "Torogoz" and "Guardabarranco" respectively. The bird is long and weighs . It has a mostly grey-blue body with a rufous back and belly. There is a bright blue strip above the eye and a blue-border ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Müllerian Mimicry
Müllerian mimicry is a natural phenomenon in which two or more well-defended species, often foul-tasting and sharing common predators, have come to mimic each other's honest warning signals, to their mutual benefit. The benefit to Müllerian mimics is that predators only need one unpleasant encounter with one member of a set of Müllerian mimics, and thereafter avoid all similar coloration, whether or not it belongs to the same species as the initial encounter. It is named after the German naturalist Fritz Müller, who first proposed the concept in 1878, supporting his theory with the first mathematical model of frequency-dependent selection, one of the first such models anywhere in biology. Müllerian mimicry was first identified in tropical butterflies that shared colourful wing patterns, but it is found in many groups of insects such as bumblebees, and other animals including poison frogs and coral snakes. The mimicry need not be visual; for example, many snakes share a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Batesian Mimicry
Batesian mimicry is a form of mimicry where a harmless species has evolved to imitate the warning signals of a harmful species directed at a predator of them both. It is named after the English naturalist Henry Walter Bates, after his work on butterflies in the rainforests of Brazil. Batesian mimicry is the most commonly known and widely studied of mimicry complexes, such that the word mimicry is often treated as synonymous with Batesian mimicry. There are many other forms however, some very similar in principle, others far separated. It is often contrasted with Müllerian mimicry, a form of mutually beneficial convergence between two or more harmful species. However, because the mimic may have a degree of protection itself, the distinction is not absolute. It can also be contrasted with functionally different forms of mimicry. Perhaps the sharpest contrast here is with aggressive mimicry where a predator or parasite mimics a harmless species, avoiding detection and improving its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Instinct
Instinct is the inherent inclination of a living organism towards a particular complex behaviour, containing both innate (inborn) and learned elements. The simplest example of an instinctive behaviour is a fixed action pattern (FAP), in which a very short to medium length sequence of actions, without variation, are carried out in response to a corresponding clearly defined stimulus. Any behaviour is instinctive if it is performed without being based upon prior experience (that is, in the absence of learning), and is therefore an expression of innate biological factors. Sea turtles, newly hatched on a beach, will instinctively move toward the ocean. A marsupial climbs into its mother's pouch upon being born. Other examples include animal fighting, animal courtship behaviour, internal escape functions, and the building of nests. Though an instinct is defined by its invariant innate characteristics, details of its performance can be changed by experience; for example, a dog can imp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Observational Learning
Observational learning is learning that occurs through observing the behavior of others. It is a form of social learning which takes various forms, based on various processes. In humans, this form of learning seems to not need reinforcement to occur, but instead, requires a social model such as a parent, sibling, friend, or teacher with surroundings. Particularly in childhood, a model is someone of authority or higher status in an environment. In animals, observational learning is often based on classical conditioning, in which an instinctive behavior is elicited by observing the behavior of another (e.g. mobbing in birds), but other processes may be involved as well. Human observational learning Many behaviors that a learner observes, remembers, and imitates are actions that models display and display modeling, even though the model may not intentionally try to instill a particular behavior. A child may learn to swear, smack, smoke, and deem other inappropriate behavior acceptabl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
