Shree Gavisiddeshwar Arts, Science
and Commerce, College, Koppal.
Presented by
Prashanth Konkal
Department of Zoology
Coloration and Mimicry
• Coloration is an adaptation where the animals develop different colors and
color patterns for protection, warning, frightening the enemies, capturing prey,
recognizing mates so on.
• Classification
• 1. Protective coloration
• The animals develop color patterns to conceal themselves from the predators.
It is also called as concealing coloration or cryptic coloration.
• Eg. 1. Countershading in sharks and Dolphins
Sharks and Dolphins use countershading to
blend in with their environment. By being
darker colored on the top and lighter
underneath. They help to themselves conceal
from their preadators and prey
From above, looking down to the ocean floor it
appears darker and from below looking up to
the surface it appears lighter color
• Eg 2. A number of stick
caterpillars, the larvae of
moths, resemble twigs in their
color, shape and posture.
• Their color remarkably
resembles their background.
• 2. Aggressive coloration
• The animals develop color
pattern to threaten or frighten
other animals.
• Eg. Eyed hawk moth uses the
eye spots to threaten the
predators.
3. Warning coloration
Animals with effective
chemical defenses often
exhibit bright aposematic
coloration .
Eg . Poison Dart frog
Aposematic coloration seems
to be adaptive because
predators often avoid prey
that have bright color patterns.
• Could you identify the animal in the above showing image.Canyon tree……..
Mimicry
• Term introduced by Bates.
• The resemblance of one organism to another or to any natural
object for the purpose of concealment, protection or for some
other advantage.
• The organism which exhibits mimicry is called mimic.
• The organism which is mimicked or imitated is called a model.
CONDITIONS
• The mimics and models should occur in the same area.
• Mimics should be lesser in number than the models.
• The models should be unpalatable or harmful
• The imitation should be clear and visible.
There are 3 types in mimicry
• 1. Protective mimicry
When mimicry offers protection of the mimic, the mimicry is
called …………………
Eg . 1. The leaf insect Phyllium lives among green leaves on trees.
• Its wings and legs are green like the
color of leaves.
• Its legs are flattened and the wings
have a venation similar to leaves.
• Thus, the insect cannot be
distinguished from the leaves and it
helps the insect to escape from
predators.
• Ex 2. Stick insect
• Also called as walking stick
mimics exactly the twigs.
• Stick insects have long,
cylindrical bodies, that are
stick-like in both shape
and colour.
• Their natural camouflage
makes them difficult
for predators to detect;
2. Warning mimicry
• There are some harmless or palatable animals
which mimic the harmful or non-palatable animals. By this
mimics warn the enemies and protect themselves.
• Eg . The non-poisonous snake Lycodon mimics the poisonous
krait in its color pattern.
Batesian Mimicry
3. Aggressive mimicry
• In this mimicry, the mimics possess some lure to attract the prey.
• Eg. In angler fish Lophius, the first fin ray of the dorsal fin is
produced into a fleshy appendage ended with a bait.
• The bait hangs in front of the mouth and swings in all directions.
• If another fish tries to capture this bait, the angler fish swallows it in
no time.
Mullerian mimicry
• In Müllerian mimicry, two or more unpalatable species, such
as the cuckoo bee and yellow jacket, resemble each other.
Presumably, the more unpalatable prey there are, the more
quickly predators learn to avoid prey with that particular
appearance.
Advantages
• Based on a reduction in the number of trials required
by a young predator in learning to avoid inedible
species.
• Both the individuals are not destroyed by the
predators.
Chameleon
• Scientists believe that chameleons change color to reflect
their moods. By doing so, they send social signals to other
chameleons. For example, darker colors tend to mean
a chameleon is angry. Lighter colors might be used to attract
mates.
• The chameleon's amazing adaptation is that it can move its
eyes in two different directions.
• It does that because it looks around to see if there are any
predators lurking .If it sees one when it is on a tree it can
quickly camouflage into the colour of the tree and the
predator won't see it.
• That is another one of its adaptations that helps it survive,
when the chameleon sleeps it camouflages on the tree so any
nocturnal animals/predators don't eat it.
Could you explore chameleon exhibit what type of behaviour?
Thank you
