title: Deception in plants: mimicry or perceptual exploitation?
abstract: Mimicry involves adaptive resemblance between a mimic and a model. However, despite much recent research, it remains contentious in plants. Here, we review recent progress on studying deception by flowers, distinguishing between plants relying on mimicry to achieve pollination and those relying on the exploitation of the perceptual biases of animals. We disclose fundamental differences between both mechanisms and explain why the evolution of exploitation is less constrained than that of mimicry. Exploitation of perceptual biases might thus be a precursor for the gradual evolution of mimicry. Increasing knowledge on the sensory and cognitive filters in animals, and on the selective pressures that maintain them, should aid researchers in tracing the evolutionary dynamics of deception in plants.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Department of Evolutionary Biology and Animal Ecology, Hauptstrasse 1, 79104 Freiburg, Germany. martin.schaefer@biologie.uni-freiburg.de
authors.forename: H Martin
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Schaefer
authors.forename: Graeme D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Ruxton
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D035264:Flowers / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D010465:Perception; D010944:Plants / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000235:genetics*