Question

you are studying two species of snakes, and notice that the non-venomous species looks very similar to the venomous species, even though they are very distantly related. why might this benefit the non-venomous species?

Answer 1

The non-venomous snake benefits from resembling the venomous species through Batesian mimicry, which provides a survival advantage by deterring predators who are cautious of the venomous look-alike.

Step-by-step explanation:

The phenomenon you are observing between the non-venomous and venomous snake species is known as Batesian mimicry, where a harmless species evolves to imitate the warning signals of a harmful one. This resemblance can deter potential predators, who may mistake the non-venomous snake for its dangerous counterpart and opt to avoid it, thus providing a survival benefit to the non-venomous snake. Differentiating between Batesian and Müllerian mimicry is important, as the latter involves multiple species that all have defenses, whereas in Batesian mimicry, only the species being imitated has a defense mechanism.

To investigate this mimicry further, biologists might conduct laboratory tests where predators who recognize the venomous species by its color are presented with both the venomous brightly colored individuals and the non-venomous brightly colored individuals to see if the predators avoid both.