Mimicry in animals is a common form of protection from predators. For instance, two distasteful or toxic butterflies may mimic each other for mutual defense, as the viceroy and monarch butterflies do.

Mimicry occurs when an animal evolves an appearance that is similar to another animal. Although this seems simple enough at first glance, natural selection has found a number of interesting ways to ...

People love going to zoos. You get a close-up look at wild animals, might get to watch sea lions jump through a hoop, and just might be cussed out by an unruly gang of parrots. Wait, what? That’s ...

On a dusky evening in 2007, while completing her Ph.D., Laura Kelley was traipsing through the backwoods of Queensland, Australia, when she heard her landlady shouting for her cat. Bonnie! Bonnie!

Despite the broad recognition of mimicry among bumble bees, distinct North American mimicry rings have yet to be defined, due in part to the prevalence of intermediate and imperfect mimics in this ...

Nature's survival often hinges on intelligence and deception rather than brute strength. Animals like the mimic octopus, lyrebird, and fork-tailed drongo employ remarkable tricks, from camouflage and ...

ON November 24, Prof. G. D. H. Carpenter, Hope professor of zoology in the University of Oxford, delivered the second part of his inaugural lecture (see NATURE of November 25, p. 813). Dealing with ...

Growing up, I can remember almost all of the tattered and worn posters that adorned the classrooms of my school. Many of them had historical timelines, periodic tables, and the like. However, many ...

The rainforest is a feast for the senses. From the loud hum of insects and calls from birds and other animals to the earthy aroma from the forever dampened soil — researchers who spend time in this ...