Evidence for a Müllerian mimetic radiation in Asian pitvipers

Area of Science:

• Evolutionary Biology
• Herpetology
• Ecology

Background:

• Müllerian mimicry, where toxic species share warning signals for mutual protection, is rare in vertebrates.
• Understanding mimicry in pitvipers requires examining geographic variation in warning patterns.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate Müllerian mimicry in Southeast Asian pitvipers.
• To test the hypothesis of parallel geographic variation in warning patterns within pitviper clades.

Main Methods:

• Phylogenetic analysis using DNA sequences from four mitochondrial regions.
• Mantel matrix correlation tests to assess pattern association with sympatric/parapatric populations.

Main Results:

• Significant association found between red color patterns and sympatric/parapatric pitviper populations across four genera.
• This represents the first evidence of Müllerian mimetic radiation in vipers.
• Mimetic patterns were infrequent in females, suggesting sex-specific selection.

Conclusions:

• Southeast Asian pitvipers exhibit Müllerian mimicry, a rare phenomenon in vertebrates.
• Divergent selection pressures, possibly due to differential predation on males versus females, may explain sex-specific coloration patterns.