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    Animal Defenses

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    geana
    Animals have evolved various defenses against predators including chemical defense using toxins, camouflage to blend in with the environment, and mimicry of other species. Chemical defenses include producing or accumulating toxins from food. Camouflage involves cryptic coloration or markings to resemble surroundings. Mimicry can be Batesian, where a harmless species mimics a toxic one, or Mullerian where multiple toxic species resemble each other.

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    Animal Defenses

    Uploaded by

    geana
    30 views24 pages
    Animals have evolved various defenses against predators including chemical defense using toxins, camouflage to blend in with the environment, and mimicry of other species. Chemical defenses include producing or accumulating toxins from food. Camouflage involves cryptic coloration or markings to resemble surroundings. Mimicry can be Batesian, where a harmless species mimics a toxic one, or Mullerian where multiple toxic species resemble each other.

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    animals' defense against predators

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    Animals have evolved various defenses against predators including chemical defense using toxins, camouflage to blend in with the environment, and mimicry of other species. Chemical defenses include producing or accumulating toxins from food. Camouflage involves cryptic coloration or markings to resemble surroundings. Mimicry can be Batesian, where a harmless species mimics a toxic one, or Mullerian where multiple toxic species resemble each other.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    30 views24 pages

    Animal Defenses

    Uploaded by

    geana
    Animals have evolved various defenses against predators including chemical defense using toxins, camouflage to blend in with the environment, and mimicry of other species. Chemical defenses include producing or accumulating toxins from food. Camouflage involves cryptic coloration or markings to resemble surroundings. Mimicry can be Batesian, where a harmless species mimics a toxic one, or Mullerian where multiple toxic species resemble each other.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 24

    Animal Defense

    against Predators
    Animal Defense Against Predators
    Throughout millions of years of evolution, animals
    have evolved numerous ways of defending themselves
    against predators. Obviously, being able to flee
    a predator is the choice of many prey animals we
    can consider.
    However, there are some often overlooked but
    interesting methods of defense which involve deception
    and chemistry. These include using toxic chemicals,
    camouflage, and mimicry.
    Animal Defense Against Predators

    Presented here are several descriptions


    and
    examples of animal defense.
    1. Chemical Defense

     There are two main ways animals can use


    chemicals to defend themselves.

     Animals can synthesize toxin using their


    own metabolic processes, or they can
    accumulate toxin from the food they eat.
    1. Chemical Defense
     Animals which synthesize
    their own toxin are able
    to convert chemical
    compounds in their body
    to a poison.

    ► There are many


    amphibians that produce
    skin toxins. The skin
    toxins are produced by
    special poison glands,
    usually located on the Photo courtesy of Dr. John Daly
    animal's back or
    throughout the skin. The poison dart frog has
    poison glands scattered
    all over its body.
    1. Chemical Defense

    In another
    example, the fire
    salamander makes
    a nerve poison,
    which it can
    squirt from glands
    on its back.
    Photo courtesy of Henk Wallays, Cal. Acad. of Sciences.
    1. Chemical Defense
    Many animals accumulate
    toxin from their food
    rather than synthesizing it
    from scratch.

    For example, the larvae of


    Monarch butterflies accumulate
    toxins from the plants they
    inhabit. Birds that eat the
    Monarchs vomit and learn to
    avoid them in the future.
    Photo courtesy of T. W. Davies, Cal. Acad. of Sciences. Their bright coloration allows
    birds to remember and avoid
    them.
    1. Chemical Defense
    ► Interestingly, many organisms
    which are distasteful advertise
    this fact to predators by having
    bright body colors or markings,
    as if to say, “Notice me! I’m
    dangerous!”
    1. Chemical Defense
    You can see this in the
    bright colors of the
    Monarch and the
    poison dart frog.

    Photo courtesy of T. W. Davies, Cal. Acad. of Sciences.

    Photo courtesy of Dr. John Daly


    1. Chemical Defense
    This is called “aposematic
    coloration”, and is widely
    used among the insects
    and amphibians.

    The Cream-spot Tiger is


    aposematically colored.
    2. Camouflage
    Animals that camouflage
    themselves pretend to be
    something they are not.
    Either their coloration,
    marking patterns, or
    entire body resembles
    something else in their
    environment, here a
    leaf, an owl.
    2. Camouflage
    Here an aptly named
    walking stick
    pretends to be a
    twig, in an attempt
    to avoid being seen
    by a bird or other
    predator. This is
    an example of
    cryptic coloration.

    Photo courtesy of Dr. Lloyd Glenn Ingles, Cal. Acad. of Sciences.


    2. Camouflage
    In this picture, a four-
    eyed butterfly fish uses
    deceptive markings.
    The large spot near the
    tail resembles an eye.
    When predators attack
    the wrong end, the
    butterfly fish can swim
    away in the other
    direction!
    2. Camouflage
    Some predators also depend on camouflage, but
    this time it is in order to avoid being seen by their
    prey.

    Here, a frogfish resembles


    a sponge. Small fish
    swimming nearby will be
    engulfed in the frogfish’s
    enormous mouth!
    3. Mimicry
    In mimicry, an organism (the mimic) closely
    resembles another organism (the model) in
    order to deceive a third, (the operator). The
    model and the mimic are not always closely
    related, but both usually live in the same area.
    This is similar to camouflage, but in mimicry
    the model is generally a similar organism rather
    than a static part of the background
    environment.
    3. Mimicry

    There are several types of mimicry.


    The two most common types are
    Batesian mimicry and
    Mullerian mimicry.
    John H. Tashjian 3. Mimicry
    Batesian mimicry occurs when an edible mimic resembles an
    unpalatable or poisonous model. In this type of mimicry,
    only the mimic benefits.

    An example of Batesian
    mimicry is the scarlet king
    snake, a non-poisonous
    mimic of the extremely
    venemous coral snake. Photo courtesy of John H. Tashjian,
    Above: scarlet king snake Cal. Acad. of Sciences.
    Right: coral snake
    3. Mimicry
    Another example of
    Batesian mimicry is
    the locust borer.
    This insect not only
    looks like a bee or
    wasp, it sounds like
    one, too!
    3. Mimicry
    By contrast, Mullerian mimicry occurs
    when two (or more) distasteful or
    poisonous organisms resemble each other.
    Both species benefit because a predator
    who learns to avoid one species will most
    likely avoid the other, too.
    3. Mimicry

    The two invertebrates on the left are different species


    of sea slugs, while the one on the right is a marine
    flatworm. All three secrete noxious substances and
    are unpalatable. Notice their similar aposematic
    coloring.
    Review and Summary
    Three types of defenses that animals can use
    against predators include:

    Chemical defense
    including synthesizing toxins and accumulating toxins
    from food
    Review and Summary
    Three types of defenses that animals can use
    against predators include:

    Camouflage
    including cryptic coloration and deceptive markings
    Review and Summary
    Three types of defenses that animals can use
    against predators include:

    Mimicry
    including Batesian and Mullerian mimicry
    Review and Summary
    Three types of defenses that animals can use
    against predators include:

    Chemical defense
    Camouflage
    Mimicry

    Animals constantly evolve new and improved


    characteristics to capture prey or evade predators;
    the ongoing “arms race” has produced some of the
    wonderful organisms you have just seen!

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