Aposematism and Batesian Mimicry
This week, I've watched a few things on TV that really don't have much to do with each other, but made me think about whether they relate. First was an episode of Nature about the science of venom and poison. Many deadly species are being harvested for their venom. The venom in turn is utilized in some cutting-edge medical cures that are in development. While discussing the various poisonous species, they discussed how poisonous frogs often have very bright colors.
That got me to thinking about a few things, so I looked up frogs on wikipedia. The phenomenon where a poisonous species has bright colors is called aposematism. Sometimes species will evolve into mimics of other deadly or unpalatable species. And in some cases, two undesirable species will both evolve to have similar colorations, thus warding off predators from both. In rare cases, one undesirable and one desirable species will both mimic a third species which is somewhere in-between.
Last night I watched an episode of the new To Tell The Truth. On it were 3 contestants claiming to be a dating guru. The guru apparently knew 4 words that a woman should never say. We never learned what they were because the one guy who answered was not the real dating guru and said it was "we need to talk". By the way, someone once broke up with me by just saying "we need to talk" and nothing else, knowing I would know what it meant because those words apparently have no other possible meaning. So I think it's probably something less obvious.
The episode got me to thinking… in the world of dating, aside from the 4 unknown magic words, what would be considered aposematic traits? And are there examples of mimicry?
Typically an undesirable feature would be called a "red flag". But aposematism is a bit more absolute. There's no room for flags, it's either eat or don't eat. I've been trying to think of examples from my own dating life… here's what I came up with so far...
People devout beyond reason. These are highly unpalatable dating partners. The question I've had for a while now is about the candy store lady. We have discussed her religious beliefs a little bit, but I cannot determine whether it is batesian mimicry or mullerian mimicry. If it were the former, it would only seem like she is devout beyond reason and she actually would be highly palatable. In the latter, though she is not quite the same species as the nutball people who are devout beyond reason, it might still be undesirable. The only way I can think to figure out if she's a batesy or a mullery is to constantly make small talk. But this is difficult because she's never around anymore!
Of course there are a lot of examples of "desirable trait" mimicry. Everyone on the planet will claim to like hiking even if they don't. It's a simple enough claim that people will think, well, at least they are not a couch potato. The problem is, everyone says it now, so you cannot consider it a desirable trait anymore.
Another example from my life that might fit the bill would be women who dress and act like they might be into other women. That's what's happening with the girl at soap opera. She sometimes talks about using men's fragrances that she likes and how she doesn't mind if deodorant wears out by the end of the day and she smells a little. This leads me to wonder if she's into guys or not, because a girl not into guys is not desirable.
What other traits do people sometimes have that make one think they are undesirable when they might not actually be?
That got me to thinking about a few things, so I looked up frogs on wikipedia. The phenomenon where a poisonous species has bright colors is called aposematism. Sometimes species will evolve into mimics of other deadly or unpalatable species. And in some cases, two undesirable species will both evolve to have similar colorations, thus warding off predators from both. In rare cases, one undesirable and one desirable species will both mimic a third species which is somewhere in-between.
Last night I watched an episode of the new To Tell The Truth. On it were 3 contestants claiming to be a dating guru. The guru apparently knew 4 words that a woman should never say. We never learned what they were because the one guy who answered was not the real dating guru and said it was "we need to talk". By the way, someone once broke up with me by just saying "we need to talk" and nothing else, knowing I would know what it meant because those words apparently have no other possible meaning. So I think it's probably something less obvious.
The episode got me to thinking… in the world of dating, aside from the 4 unknown magic words, what would be considered aposematic traits? And are there examples of mimicry?
Typically an undesirable feature would be called a "red flag". But aposematism is a bit more absolute. There's no room for flags, it's either eat or don't eat. I've been trying to think of examples from my own dating life… here's what I came up with so far...
People devout beyond reason. These are highly unpalatable dating partners. The question I've had for a while now is about the candy store lady. We have discussed her religious beliefs a little bit, but I cannot determine whether it is batesian mimicry or mullerian mimicry. If it were the former, it would only seem like she is devout beyond reason and she actually would be highly palatable. In the latter, though she is not quite the same species as the nutball people who are devout beyond reason, it might still be undesirable. The only way I can think to figure out if she's a batesy or a mullery is to constantly make small talk. But this is difficult because she's never around anymore!
Of course there are a lot of examples of "desirable trait" mimicry. Everyone on the planet will claim to like hiking even if they don't. It's a simple enough claim that people will think, well, at least they are not a couch potato. The problem is, everyone says it now, so you cannot consider it a desirable trait anymore.
Another example from my life that might fit the bill would be women who dress and act like they might be into other women. That's what's happening with the girl at soap opera. She sometimes talks about using men's fragrances that she likes and how she doesn't mind if deodorant wears out by the end of the day and she smells a little. This leads me to wonder if she's into guys or not, because a girl not into guys is not desirable.
What other traits do people sometimes have that make one think they are undesirable when they might not actually be?