The copycats: how animals use mimicry to survive

We often think that creativity is a purely human affair, but we are forgetting a very interesting group: animals.

Animals also create. Take, for example, the pig nicknamed "Pigcasso," who shows a keen interest in painting, or research demonstrating that dolphins can invent games. Often, animal creativity and inventiveness arise from the need to solve a particular problem. This can include accessing food that is difficult to reach or, like the male bowerbird, crafting intricate structures to attract a mate

Although creativity and imitation are commonly regarded as polar opposites, they often go hand-in-hand, and animals are no exception. It begins early on as they have to copy other animals, usually their mother, to learn how to hunt or fly. A particularly interesting form of imitation is ‘mimicry’, when two animals, who may not even belong to the same species, display an amazing similarity to each other. Nature’s copycats often mimic a dangerous animal that is known for being poisonous or a predator, as it offers them protection: imitation as a survival strategy.

Here are a few examples of mimicry:

-        If you come across a snake mimic caterpillar, you will have to look extremely closely to tell it apart from a real snake (as pictured above).

-        The hover fly looks just like a wasp, but is totally harmless.

-        The false coral snake bears a striking resemblance to the extremely poisonous coral snake as it has the same vivid colour combination.

-        The owl butterfly has a pattern on its wings that would fool you into thinking you were looking at an owl.

 Sometimes, similarities are not visual, but auditory. The forked-tail drongo imitates the warning calls of other species to scare them away so that it can steal their food. This bird has an enormous repertoire as it can imitate 51 different species.

Unfortunately for animals, they cannot own the copyright to their own creations. Good news for the imitators!

Author: Arnaud Bos

Bio: Arnaud is trademark attorney and within Knijff responsible for the marketing & communication. Arnaud is specialist in the metaverse and music sectors and his client portfolio includes many upcoming and renowned bands. He keeps a close eye on the latest case law in the EU and will let you know when he sees remarkable applications.