When perfection isn't enough: host egg signatures are an effective defence against high-fidelity African cuckoo mimicry.

Abstract excerpt

Most mimicry systems involve imperfect mimicry, whereas perfect and high-fidelity mimicry are rare. When the fidelity of mimicry is high, mimics might be expected to have the upper hand against their antagonists. However, in coevolving systems, diversification of model phenotypes may provide an evolutionary escape, because mimics cannot simultaneously match all model individuals in the population. Here we...

Topics

Share this publication in a Topic to start or enrich a Post.

• Share to Biological Evolution
• Share to Host-Parasite Interactions