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Predator cognition permits imperfect coral snake mimicry
David W Kikuchi1, David W Pfennig
1Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA. dkikuchi@email.unc.edu
The American Naturalist
|October 19, 2010
Summary
Predators may not perceive all visual cues, allowing imperfect mimicry like the scarlet kingsnake to persist. This suggests mimicry evolves only to deceive predator perception, not achieve perfection.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary Biology
- Behavioral Ecology
- Animal Communication
Background:
- Batesian mimicry, where a harmless species mimics a harmful one, is often imperfect.
- Predator limitations in processing prey phenotypes may explain the persistence of imprecise mimicry.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if predators can distinguish between coral snakes (Micrurus fulvius) and scarlet kingsnakes (Lampropeltis elapsoides) based on ring pattern.
- To test the hypothesis that imperfect mimicry persists due to predator cognitive limitations.
Main Methods:
- Field experiment involving predator-prey interactions between snakes and predators.
- Assessing predator responses to variations in the coloration and ring patterns of L. elapsoides.
Main Results:
- Scarlet kingsnakes (L. elapsoides) do not face selection pressure to perfectly match the ring order of coral snakes (M. fulvius).
- L. elapsoides that closely resemble M. fulvius in other aspects are still successful despite ring order discrepancies.
- Imperfect mimicry is maintained, suggesting predators may not utilize all phenotypic dimensions for identification.
Conclusions:
- Mimicry may evolve to the level sufficient to deceive predators, rather than achieving exact resemblance.
- Predator cognitive abilities and sensory processing limitations can play a significant role in the evolution and maintenance of Batesian mimicry.
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