Once a Batesian mimic, not always a Batesian mimic: mimic reverts back to ancestral phenotype when the model is absent.

ABSTRACT: Batesian mimics gain protection from predation through the evolution of physical similarities to a model species that possesses anti-predator defences. This protection should not be effective in the absence of the model since the predator does not identify the mimic as potentially dangerous and both the model and the mimic are highly conspicuous. Thus, Batesian mimics should probably encounter strong predation pressure outside the geographical range of the model species. There are several documented examples of Batesian mimics occurring in locations without their models, but the evolutionary responses remain largely unidentified. A mimetic species has four alternative evolutionary responses to the loss of model presence. If predation is weak, it could maintain its mimetic signal. If predat

SUBMITTER: Prudic KL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2602694 | biostudies-literature | 2008 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature