Meeting Abstract
A fundamental goal of biological research is to understand the forces that drive the evolution of phenotypic diversity such as in mimicry systems. In particular, understanding how selection acts upon the signal components of mimicry can give insight into how mimicry has evolved. We study coral snake mimicry, where brightly colored and venomous coral snakes are imitated by harmless snakes. Previous research in temperate zones has found that components of coral snake color pattern must be precise in edge sympatry, may be relaxed in deep sympatry, and may not convey a fitness advantage at all in allopatry. However, we know relatively little about the evolution of signal components in montane tropical ecosystems, which are ideal for studies of sympatry and allopatry because elevation creates a mosaic of sympatry and allopatry. We tested which mimetic signal components are important for deterring attacks in sympatry and allopatry with coral snakes in a tropical cloud forest in Honduras. We placed 240 plasticine models that were either brown, white and black, red and black, or white, red, and black (mimetic) in sympatric and allopatric sites. We found that attacks by birds, but not mammals, were highest at the two sympatric localities. Models with either bands or red color were attacked with less frequency by birds, but not mammals, than other models at one sympatric site. These results lend insight into how geographic range and elevation may alter selection for signal components of coral snake mimicry systems in the tropics as well as affect the broader processes that generate and maintain phenotypic diversity.
