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. 
‘“FatsE” 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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