Alkaloid defenses of co-mimics in a putative Müllerian mimetic radiation

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dc.contributor.authorStuckert, Adam MM
dc.contributor.authorSaporito, Ralph A
dc.contributor.authorVenegas, Pablo J
dc.contributor.authorSummers, Kyle
dc.date.accessioned2016-06-07T17:51:50Z
dc.date.available2016-06-07T17:51:50Z
dc.date.issued2014
dc.description.abstractBackground Polytypism in aposematic species is unlikely according to theory, but commonly seen in nature. Ranitomeya imitator is a poison frog species exhibiting polytypic mimicry of three congeneric model species (R. fantastica, R. summersi, and two morphs of R. variabilis) across four allopatric populations (a "mimetic radiation"). In order to investigate chemical defenses in this system, a key prediction of Müllerian mimicry, we analyzed the alkaloids of both models and mimics from four allopatric populations. Results In this study we demonstrate distinct differences in alkaloid profiles between co-mimetic species within allopatric populations. We further demonstrate that R. imitator has a greater number of distinct alkaloid types than the model species and more total alkaloids in all but one population. Conclusions Given that R. imitator is the more abundant species in these populations, R. imitator is likely driving the majority of predator-learned avoidance in these complexes. The success of Ranitomeya imitator as a putative advergent mimic may be a direct result of differences in alkaloid sequestration. Furthermore, we propose that automimicry within co-mimetic species is an important avenue of research.en_US
dc.identifier.citationBMC Evolutionary Biology; 14: p. 76-76en_US
dc.identifier.doi10.1186/1471-2148-14-76
dc.identifier.issn1471-2148
dc.identifier.pmidpmc4101839en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10342/5509
dc.relation.urihttp://bmcevolbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2148-14-76en_US
dc.subjectAlkaloidsen_US
dc.subjectAposematismen_US
dc.subjectDendrobatidsen_US
dc.subjectMüllerian mimicryen_US
dc.subjectPolytypismen_US
dc.subjectRanitomeya imitatoren_US
dc.titleAlkaloid defenses of co-mimics in a putative Müllerian mimetic radiationen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
ecu.journal.nameBMC Evolutionary Biologyen_US
ecu.journal.pages76-76en_US
ecu.journal.volume14en_US

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