Advergence in Mullerian mimicry: the case of the poison dart frogs of Northern Peru revisited.

ABSTRACT: Whether the evolution of similar aposematic signals in different unpalatable species (i.e. Müllerian mimicry) is because of phenotypic convergence or advergence continues to puzzle scientists. The poison dart frog Ranitomeya imitator provides a rare example in support of the hypothesis of advergence: this species was believed to mimic numerous distinct model species because of high phenotypic variability and low genetic divergence among populations. In this study, we test the evidence in support of advergence using a population genetic framework in two localities where R. imitator is sympatric with different model species, Ranitomeya ventrimaculata and Ranitomeya variabilis. Genetic analyses revealed incomplete sorting of mitochondrial haplotypes between the two model species. These two sp

SUBMITTER: Chouteau M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3169040 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature