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.

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 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 ...

Discover the fascinating world of camouflage and masterful mimicry in this gallery of hidden animals. From elusive snow leopards to tiny mantises, these animals of all shapes and sizes can blend ...

A white-necked jacobin hummingbird chick surprises scientists, scaring away wasps by mimicking a poisonous caterpillar.

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 ...

From water-skipping robots to elephant-skin inspired cooling materials, engineers have continued to find inspiration in nature in order to move technology forward for humans.

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 ...

Today we take a listen to field recordings of the superb lyrebird, an Australian songbird known for its elaborate vocal displays and mimicry of other species’ songs. Sir David Attenborough once said ...

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!

A study suggests that climate change-associated seasonal shifts alter the effectiveness of animal mimicry. Batesian mimics are organisms with traits that imitate poisonous or otherwise dangerous prey, ...

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 ...