No evidence of quantitative honest signaling in aposematic traits of the green and black dendrobatid frog <i>Dendrobates auratus</i> in Costa Rica.

ABSTRACT: Aposematism is an antipredator strategy in which conspicuous coloration acts as a warning of chemical defenses to potential predators. Evidence suggests that aposematism largely functions under positive frequency-dependent selection, which is thought to maintain uniformity of aposematic signals. Many studies of aposematic organisms have found evidence that color signals and defenses are positively correlated, indicating a quantitatively honest aposematic signal. Dendrobatid poison frogs represent a well-studied group of aposematic organisms that in addition to exhibiting a diversity of color signals also display unique defensive behaviors. Few studies have examined if both behavior and coloration act as quantitative honest signals of alkaloid defenses in poison frogs. We aimed to determine

SUBMITTER: Porras-Brenes K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12547097 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature