title: Coral snakes predict the evolution of mimicry across New World snakes.
abstract: Batesian mimicry, in which harmless species (mimics) deter predators by deceitfully imitating the warning signals of noxious species (models), generates striking cases of phenotypic convergence that are classic examples of evolution by natural selection. However, mimicry of venomous coral snakes has remained controversial because of unresolved conflict between the predictions of mimicry theory and empirical patterns in the distribution and abundance of snakes. Here we integrate distributional, phenotypic and phylogenetic data across all New World snake species to demonstrate that shifts to mimetic coloration in nonvenomous snakes are highly correlated with coral snakes in both space and time, providing overwhelming support for Batesian mimicry. We also find that bidirectional transitions between mimetic and cryptic coloration are unexpectedly frequent over both long- and short-time scales, challenging traditional views of mimicry as a stable evolutionary 'end point' and suggesting that insect and snake mimicry may have different evolutionary dynamics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, 1109 Geddes Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.|Museum of Vertebrate Zoology and Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, 3101 Valley Life Sciences, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Alison R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Davis Rabosky
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Georgia Southern University, PO Box 8042, Statesboro, Georgia 30460, USA.|Department of Biology, The University of Texas, Arlington, Texas 76019, USA.
authors.forename: Christian L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Cox
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, 1109 Geddes Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Rabosky
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, 1109 Geddes Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Pascal O
authors.initials: PO
authors.lastname: Title
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, 1109 Geddes Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Iris A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Holmes
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel.
authors.forename: Anat
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Feldman
authors.affiliation: Museum of Vertebrate Zoology and Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, 3101 Valley Life Sciences, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Jimmy A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: McGuire
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D000067558:Biological Mimicry; D000073181:Coral Snakes / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D010641:Phenotype; D010802:Phylogeny; D011235:Predatory Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D012880:Skin Pigmentation / Q000502:physiology*; D012911:Snakes / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*