Title
Experimental evidence for predator learning and Müllerian mimicry in Peruvian poison frogs (Ranitomeya, Dendrobatidae)
Date Issued
01 January 2014
Access level
metadata only access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Publisher(s)
Kluwer Academic Publishers
Abstract
The evolution of mimicry is one of the most powerful examples of evolution driven by natural selection; however it is rare in non-insect taxa and thus is understudied. Ranitomeya imitator underwent a 'mimetic radiation' and now mimics three congeneric model species (R. fantastica, R. summersi, and two morphs of R. variabilis), creating geographically distinct populations of the species, including four allopatric mimetic morphs. These complexes are thought to represent a case of Müllerian mimicry, but no prior empirical studies on learned avoidance by predators support this claim. In this study we used young chickens (Gallus domesticus) as naïve predators to determine if a co-mimetic morph of R. imitator and R. variabilis contribute to reciprocal learned avoidance by predators-a key component of Müllerian mimicry. Chickens exposed to either stimulus species demonstrated reciprocal learned avoidance; thus our results indicate that this complex functions as a Müllerian mimicry system. This study provides novel empirical evidence supporting predictions of the Müllerian mimicry hypothesis in anurans. Our study shows no difference between learned avoidance in stimuli frogs and a 'novel' morph of R. imitator that differed in both color and pattern, indicating that learned avoidance by predators may be generalized in this system. Generalized learning provides a plausible mechanism for the maintenance of both polytypic mimicry and the maintenance of intrapopulation phenotypic heterogeneity. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.
Start page
413
End page
426
Volume
28
Issue
3
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Zoología, Ornitología, Entomología, ciencias biológicas del comportamiento
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-84897977626
Source
Evolutionary Ecology
ISSN of the container
02697653
Sponsor(s)
Acknowledgments We would like to thank Molly Albecker, Trip Lamb, and Evan Twomey for their input on the manuscript. We would also like to acknowledge Lisa Schulte, Manuel Panaijo, Manuel Panaijo, and Caesar Lopez for assistance in the field and Evan Twomey for his willingness to share some of his hard-earned knowledge of localities. Financial assistance was provided by a grant to KS by National Geographic Society (8751-10) as well as partial assistance to AS by East Carolina University in the form of a Next Step Scholarship. Research permits were obtained through DGFFS in Lima, Peru (Resolución Directoral No 033-2011-AG-DGFFS-DGEFFS) and animal use permits (ECU IACUC D225)
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus