Final answer:
In scarlet kingsnakes, being similar in appearance to the toxic coral snakes is advantageous where both species co-occur due to Batesian mimicry. Amelanism in corn snakes is caused by the insertion of genetic material into an intron which may disrupt mRNA splicing, leading to nonfunctional proteins. Emsleyan/Mertensian mimicry involves a deadly prey mimicking a less dangerous one, which is rare and relies on learned predator avoidance.
Step-by-step explanation:
In scarlet kingsnakes, alleles that lead to a coloration pattern similar to that of coral snakes can be described as advantageous where kingsnakes and coral snakes co-occur. This form of adaptation is known as Batesian mimicry, where a harmless species (the kingsnake) mimics the warning coloration of a harmful species (the coral snake). Predators that have learned to avoid the venomous coral snake are likely to mistake the kingsnake for its dangerous counterpart and thus are less likely to attack, giving the kingsnake that bears the similar coloration an advantage in regions where coral snakes are found.
Concerning corn snakes experiencing amelanism, this condition is due to an insertion of extra genetic material into an intron in the OCA2 gene. Intron insertions can lead to improper splicing during the processing of the messenger RNA (mRNA). If the splicing machinery does not correctly remove the intron or recognizes the inserted sequence as an exon, this can lead to a dysfunctional protein because the resulting mRNA might code for a protein with an incorrect amino acid sequence or cause a frame shift, resulting in a nonfunctional protein.
In the general overview of mimicry strategies, Emsleyan/Mertensian mimicry is an interesting but rare mimicry type where a deadly prey mimics a less toxic one. This strategy benefits the mimic, as predators learn to avoid the mimicked species after experiencing negative but non-lethal consequences, indirectly benefiting the more deadly species.