Nature is full of all sorts of clever tricks, such as the ability of certain animals to disguise themselves as other animals. This allows them either to hide from predators, sneak up on prey, or even lure in mates. Camouflage can take many forms, such as color-changing, a shift in shape, or the imitation of movements around them. These are adaptations that show how animals have evolved to survive in their particular environment.
Some animals go to great lengths in perfecting their disguises, and in the process, they become incredibly talented. Observing them can teach us about complex relationships within ecosystems. This is going to be about twelve remarkable animals and just how imaginative the natural world is, along with life finding its means to thrive.
Mimic Octopus
An Octopus is truly a master of disguise. It will impersonate other animals in its surroundings to avoid predators. By changing colour and texture, it can blend into the surroundings. They can also contort their body to look like different marine creatures such as flatfish or sea snakes.
Hawk Moth Caterpillars
Some of the most astonishing powers of mimicking snakes are possessed by the hawk moth caterpillars. Disturbed, they inflate the head and neck portions of their bodies into a snakehead-like shape, including a darting motion that mimics the snake’s head. This is, in fact, good strategy against predators for successful survival in the competitive environment.
Viceroy Butterflies
The viceroy butterflies are a classic example of mimicry in animals. They are practically dead ringers for monarch butterflies, which taste bitter and keep away predators. Since they look like them, viceroy butterflies can also deter predators and halt attacks against themselves in order to survive in their natural setting.
Alligator Snapping Turtle
Another cool camouflage is that of alligator snapping turtles, which actually can look just like rocks. They just open their mouths, wiggle their tongues around like a worm, and attract prey into range.
Scarlet Kingsnake
Another good faker is the scarlet kingsnake. It has a color pattern much like that of a venomous coral snake but, unlike its look-alike, is harmless. This works to the advantage of the scarlet kingsnake because predators steer clear of it, being wary of the poisonous coral snake.
Bolas Spider
A spider of the genus Bolas has an interesting method of hunting. They generally imitate the pheromones of female moths to lure male moths into their webs. They kill them and consume them. Thus, bolas spiders can pretend to be potential spouses, and thereby get food.
Western Hognose Snake
This lizard has an unbelievable talent for deception. Whenever it feels threatened, it can flatten its head and hiss, mimicking the cobra. At times, it will even begin to play possum in a last-ditch effort to deter predation. Imitating in both appearance and behavior a harmful snake, it will create doubt in the mind of a predator as to whether or not to attack.
Fork-Tailed Drongo
The fork-tailed drongo is renowned for its art of mimicry, which is really guileful. This bird mimics the distress calls for the meerkats, that run away from their food. Immediately, the drongo swoops down and steals this abandoned food. An interesting case of the mimicry here is the way one animal can deceive another. This act of lying shows how animals may resort to mimicry in order to outsmart the others.
Brown-Headed Cowbird
The brown-headed cowbirds are the ultimate in disguise and manipulation, laying their eggs in another bird species’ nest and fooling them into bringing up their young as their own. This allows the cowbird to evade the chores of parenting and to continue reproducing.
Lyrebirds
They are known to make mock calls which are imitations of the various sounds that occur in their environs. This includes the calls made by other birds and animals and man-made noises too. This special aptitude they possess to allure mates and ward off potential predators from their territory by performing mimicry tasks enables them to establish dual puposes for survival of the bird.
Common Hawk Cuckoo
It is a brood parasite laying its eggs in the nests of other birds. Its eggs resemble the host egg’s colour and patterning to deceive the host. It is also called a brain fever bird because of its strident call, which is thought to resemble a scream of “brain fever”.
Saber-toothed Blenny
The fang blenny, also referred to as the saber-toothed blenny, has a very particular form of defense. It acts like a cleaning fish in order to approach bigger predatory fish and take a chunk out of them. Such behavior helps the fang blenny get through its daily fight for life and avoid being prey.