Comments on: Harmless snakes avoid danger by mimicking the triangular heads of vipers

By: AG

AG — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 18:25:03 +0000

Blaffing might be most economicaly efficient defense strategy in biology, might be in human life too.

By: Al Cibiades

Al Cibiades — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 03:05:07 +0000

#4 is predators for swallowtails and hawkmoths, whose habitat, behaviors and predators are different from grassnakes, which would be #2

By: LT

LT — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 21:11:53 +0000

9/148? 8/149? 149 what?

By: Ed Yong

Ed Yong — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 15:29:10 +0000

(4) is the same as (2).

By: Al Cibiades

Al Cibiades — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 15:23:21 +0000

I cannot help but be amazed at the inter-species adaptation manifest here:
1. Poisonous snakes have triangular heads – evolutionary placard?
2. Predators have “learned” that the angular aspect is dangerous.
3. Un-related species evolve a triangular aspect to signal they too have a danger flag.
4. Predators of these unrelated species have “learned” that, even though they are NOT dangerous, these copy-cat species should be avoided.

By: Hai~Ren

Hai~Ren — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 14:29:29 +0000

Fascinating. I've been reading up quite a bit about possible mimicry of elapids in many Asian snakes, with a number of species possessing coloration a lot like that found in kraits or Asian coral snakes. Some snake species also flatten out their throats to form a small hood of sorts, and rear up, in an imperfect imitation of a cobra. And I discovered a possible case of a caterpillar mimicking the coloration of a venomous coral snake in the Philippines. Link