The Making of Species 



It is thus our belief that the very perfection 

 and detail of some so-called mimetic resemblances 

 are a very serious objection to the theory of 

 protective mimicry as enunciated by Professor 

 Poulton and other Neo- Darwinians. 



There is yet a further objection to this theory, 

 one which, in our opinion, is fatal to the hypo- 

 thesis in its generally accepted form. 



A number of cases occur where two species, in 

 no way related, show close resemblance to one 

 another under such circumstances that neither 

 can possibly derive any benefit from the likeness. 

 The theory of protective mimicry is quite unable 

 to explain these cases. This fact leads to a 

 suspicion that, in the instances where the theory 

 does at first sight appear to offer an explanation, 

 the resemblance may also be due to mere 

 coincidence. 



We may perhaps call the cases which the 

 theory of mimicry is unable to account for " false 

 mimicry," but in so doing we must bear in mind 

 the possibility that some, at any rate, of the 

 examples of so-called mimicry may, on further 

 investigation, prove to be nothing of the kind. 



"FALSE" MIMICRY AMONG MAMMALS 



The Cacomistle of Mexico (Bassaris astuta), 



one of the raccoon family, has a grey body and 



long black-and-white ringed tail, just like the 



ring-tailed Lemur of Madagascar (Lemur catta) ; 



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