Abstract:
:Avian predators learn to avoid defended insects on the basis of their conspicuous warning coloration. In many aposematic species, the level of chemical defence varies, with some individuals being more defended than others. Sequestration and production of defence chemicals is often costly and therefore less defended individuals enjoy the benefits of the warning signal without paying the full costs of chemical production. This is a fundamental theoretical problem for the evolutionary stability of aposematism, since less defended individuals appear to be at a selective advantage. However, if predators sample aposematic prey and selectively reject individuals on the basis of their chemical investment, aposematism could become evolutionarily stable. Previous research aimed at testing whether birds can use taste to discriminate between palatable and unpalatable prey has been confounded by other experimental factors. Here, we show that birds can taste and reject prey entirely on the basis of an individual's level of chemical defence and more importantly, they can make decisions on whether or not to consume a defended individual based upon their level of chemical investment. We discuss these results in relation to the evolution of aposematism, mimicry and defence chemistry.
journal_name
Biol Lettjournal_title
Biology lettersauthors
Skelhorn J,Rowe Cdoi
10.1098/rsbl.2006.0483subject
Has Abstractpub_date
2006-09-22 00:00:00pages
348-50issue
3eissn
1744-9561issn
1744-957Xpii
X4314303J8355L70journal_volume
2pub_type
杂志文章相关文献
Biology Letters文献大全abstract::Anti-predator benefits associated with living in groups are multiple and taxonomically widespread. In fish shoals, individuals can exploit the confusion effect, whereby predators struggle to target a single individual among several individuals. Theory predicts that the confusion effect could be aided by homogeneity in...
journal_title:Biology letters
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1098/rsbl.2018.0293
更新日期:2018-08-01 00:00:00
abstract::Interference coloration, in which the perceived colour varies predictably with the angle of illumination or observation, is extremely widespread across animal groups. However, despite considerable advances in our understanding of the mechanistic basis of interference coloration in animals, we still have a poor underst...
journal_title:Biology letters
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1098/rsbl.2015.0159
更新日期:2015-04-01 00:00:00
abstract::The outcomes of agonistic interactions modulate access to resources and thereby affect fitness. Success in agonistic encounters may depend on intrinsic physical and physiological performance, and on social experience. Here we test the hypothesis that previous experience will override physical strength in determining t...
journal_title:Biology letters
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1098/rsbl.2007.0289
更新日期:2007-10-22 00:00:00
abstract::In this study of body temperatures (T(b)) in free ranging dromedary camels, we found that bulls in rut start the days cooler. Daily minima during rut averaged 0.6 degrees C lower than at other times (95% CI 0.27-0.94 degrees C) and daily maxima averaged 0.45 degrees C higher (95% CI -0.01 to -0.91 degrees C), increasi...
journal_title:Biology letters
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1098/rsbl.2009.0450
更新日期:2009-12-23 00:00:00
abstract::Despite major advances in the study of animal tool behaviour, researchers continue to debate how exactly certain behaviours are acquired. While specific mechanisms, such as genetic predispositions or action copying, are sometimes suspected to play a major role in behavioural acquisition, controlled experiments are req...
journal_title:Biology letters
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1098/rsbl.2020.0122
更新日期:2020-06-01 00:00:00
abstract::The Red Queen hypothesis is based on the assumption that parasites must genetically match their hosts to infect them successfully. If the parasites fail, they are assumed to be killed by the host's immune system. Here, we tested this using sympatric (mostly susceptible) and allopatric (mostly resistant) populations of...
journal_title:Biology letters
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1098/rsbl.2010.0857
更新日期:2011-04-23 00:00:00
abstract::Many studies during the past 50 years have found an association between father absence and earlier menarche. In connection with these findings, several evolutionary theories assume that father absence is a causal factor accelerating reproductive development. However, a recent study analysing data from the Avon Longitu...
journal_title:Biology letters
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1098/rsbl.2019.0091
更新日期:2019-06-28 00:00:00
abstract::Recurrent cycles of climatic change during the Quaternary period have dramatically affected the population genetic structure of many species. We reconstruct the recent demographic history of the coyote (Canis latrans) through the use of Bayesian techniques to examine the effects of Late Quaternary climatic perturbatio...
journal_title:Biology letters
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1098/rsbl.2012.0162
更新日期:2012-08-23 00:00:00
abstract::Although the presence of feathers in the nest is widespread among birds, it has not been previously suggested that feathers can be used as sexual signals. Females of the spotless starling (Sturnus unicolor) regularly carry feathers to their nest, mostly during laying and incubation. We show that the arrangement of the...
journal_title:Biology letters
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1098/rsbl.2005.0329
更新日期:2005-09-22 00:00:00
abstract::The hormone corticosterone (CORT) is an important component of a bird's response to environmental stress, but it can also have negative effects. Therefore, birds on migration are hypothesized to have repressed stress responses (migration-modulation hypothesis). In contrast to earlier studies on long-distance migrants,...
journal_title:Biology letters
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1098/rsbl.2009.0193
更新日期:2009-08-23 00:00:00
abstract::In polygynous species, mate choice is an integrated part of sexual selection. However, whether mate choice occurs independently of the genetic relatedness among mating pairs has received little attention, although inbreeding may have fitness consequences. We studied whether genetic relatedness influenced females' choi...
journal_title:Biology letters
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1098/rsbl.2006.0575
更新日期:2007-02-22 00:00:00
abstract::Does a dysfunction in the mirror neuron system (MNS) underlie the social symptoms defining autism spectrum disorder (ASD)? Research suggests that the MNS matches observed actions to motor plans for similar actions, and that these motor plans include directions for predictive eye movements when observing goal-directed ...
journal_title:Biology letters
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1098/rsbl.2009.0897
更新日期:2010-06-23 00:00:00
abstract::A challenge in animal ecology is to link animal movement to demography. In general, reproducing and non-reproducing animals may show different movement patterns. Dramatic changes in reproductive status, such as the loss of an offspring during the course of migration, might also affect movement. Studies linking movemen...
journal_title:Biology letters
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1098/rsbl.2014.0379
更新日期:2014-06-01 00:00:00
abstract::Waterfowl undergo an annual simultaneous flight-feather moult that renders them flightless for the duration of the regrowth of the flight feathers. In the wild, this period of flightlessness could restrict the capacity of moulting birds to forage and escape predation. Selection might therefore favour a short moult, bu...
journal_title:Biology letters
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1098/rsbl.2018.0650
更新日期:2018-11-28 00:00:00
abstract::At the end of May, 17 scientists involved in an EU COST Action on Conservation Physiology of Marine Fishes met in Oristano, Sardinia, to discuss how physiology can be better used in modelling tools to aid in management of marine ecosystems. Current modelling approaches incorporate physiology to different extents, rang...
journal_title:Biology letters
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1098/rsbl.2012.0609
更新日期:2012-12-23 00:00:00
abstract::Two non-coding DNA classes, introns and intergenic regions, of Drosophila melanogaster exhibit contrasting evolutionary patterns. GC content is significantly higher in intergenic regions and affects their degree of nucleotide variability. Divergence is positively correlated with recombination rate in intergenic region...
journal_title:Biology letters
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1098/rsbl.2006.0521
更新日期:2006-12-22 00:00:00
abstract::The somasteroids are Lower Palaeozoic star-shaped animals widely regarded as ancestors of Asterozoa, the group of echinoderms that includes brittle stars and starfish. However, the origin of asterozoans, the assembly of their distinctive body organization, and their relationships with other Cambrian and Ordovician ech...
journal_title:Biology letters
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1098/rsbl.2020.0809
更新日期:2021-01-01 00:00:00
abstract::Plants have evolved numerous herbivore defences that are resistance- or tolerance-based. Resistance involves physical and chemical traits that deter and/or harm herbivores whereas tolerance minimizes fitness costs of herbivory, often via compensatory growth. The Poaceae frequently accumulate large amounts of silicon (...
journal_title:Biology letters
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1098/rsbl.2019.0361
更新日期:2019-07-26 00:00:00
abstract::The symposium 'What is Macroecology?' was held in London on 20 June 2012. The event was the inaugural meeting of the Macroecology Special Interest Group of the British Ecological Society and was attended by nearly 100 scientists from 11 countries. The meeting reviewed the recent development of the macroecological agen...
journal_title:Biology letters
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1098/rsbl.2012.0672
更新日期:2012-12-23 00:00:00
abstract::The brilliant red, orange and yellow colours of parrot feathers are the product of psittacofulvins, which are synthetic pigments known only from parrots. Recent evidence suggests that some pigments in bird feathers function not just as colour generators, but also preserve plumage integrity by increasing the resistance...
journal_title:Biology letters
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1098/rsbl.2010.0716
更新日期:2011-04-23 00:00:00
abstract::It is well established that grooming underpins sociality in group-living primates, and a number of studies have documented the stress-reducing effects of being groomed. In this study, we quantified grooming behaviour and physiological stress (assessed by faecal glucocorticoid analysis) in free-ranging Barbary macaques...
journal_title:Biology letters
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1098/rsbl.2007.0052
更新日期:2007-06-22 00:00:00
abstract::The extreme body size of blue whales requires a high energy intake and therefore demands efficient foraging strategies. As an obligate lunge feeder on aggregations of small zooplankton, blue whales engulf a large volume of prey-laden water in a single, rapid gulp. The efficiency of this feeding mechanism is strongly d...
journal_title:Biology letters
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1098/rsbl.2012.0986
更新日期:2013-02-23 00:00:00
abstract::The evolutionary stability of honest signalling by offspring is thought to require that begging displays be costly, so the costs and benefits of begging--and whether they are experienced individually or by the whole brood--are crucial to understanding the evolution of begging behaviour. Begging is known to have immedi...
journal_title:Biology letters
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1098/rsbl.2010.0870
更新日期:2011-06-23 00:00:00
abstract::In social insects, group behaviour can increase disease resistance among nest-mates and generate social prophylaxis. Stomodeal trophallaxis, or mutual feeding through regurgitation, may boost colony-level immunocompetence. We provide evidence for increased trophallactic behaviour among immunized workers of the carpent...
journal_title:Biology letters
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1098/rsbl.2010.0466
更新日期:2011-02-23 00:00:00
abstract::There is strong evidence for teaching in only a handful of species, most of which are cooperative breeders, leading some researchers to suggest that teaching may be more likely to evolve in such species. Alternatively, this initial distribution could be an artefact of the popularity and tractability of cooperative bre...
journal_title:Biology letters
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1098/rsbl.2017.0346
更新日期:2017-08-01 00:00:00
abstract::According to theory, directional female choice for male sexual ornaments is expected to erode underlying genetic variation. Considerable attention, in this regard, has been given to understanding the ubiquity of heritable genetic variation in both female choice and male sexual traits. One intriguing possibility emergi...
journal_title:Biology letters
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1098/rsbl.2009.0558
更新日期:2010-02-23 00:00:00
abstract::Twenty years ago, the field of ancient DNA was launched with the publication of two short mitochondrial (mt) DNA sequences from a single quagga (Equus quagga) museum skin, an extinct South African equid (Higuchi et al. 1984 Nature312, 282-284). This was the first extinct species from which genetic information was retr...
journal_title:Biology letters
pub_type: 历史文章,杂志文章
doi:10.1098/rsbl.2005.0323
更新日期:2005-09-22 00:00:00
abstract::A long-standing but controversial hypothesis assumes that carnivorous plants employ aggressive mimicry to increase their prey capture success. A possible mechanism is that pitcher plants use aggressive mimicry to deceive prey about the location of the pitcher's exit. Specifically, species from unrelated families sport...
journal_title:Biology letters
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1098/rsbl.2014.0134
更新日期:2014-04-30 00:00:00
abstract::Many geckos use adhesive toe pads on the bottom of their digits to attach to surfaces with remarkable strength. Although gecko adhesion has been studied for hundreds of years, gaps exist in our understanding at the whole-animal level. It remains unclear whether the strength and maintenance of adhesion are determined b...
journal_title:Biology letters
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1098/rsbl.2014.0701
更新日期:2014-12-01 00:00:00
abstract::Unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly called drones, are being increasingly used in ecological research, in particular to approach sensitive wildlife in inaccessible areas. Impact studies leading to recommendations for best practices are urgently needed. We tested the impact of drone colour, speed and flight angle on the...
journal_title:Biology letters
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1098/rsbl.2014.0754
更新日期:2015-02-01 00:00:00