ArticleProceedings. Biological sciences2018
Biased generalization of salient traits drives the evolution of warning signals.
Article in Proceedings. Biological sciences, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Field evidence for colour mimicry overshadowing morphological mimicry.The Journal of animal ecology · 2021Article
- Weak warning signals can persist in the absence of gene flow.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2019Article
- Biased generalization of salient traits drives the evolution of warning signals.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2018Article
- Generalization of learned preferences covaries with behavioral flexibility in red junglefowl chicks.Behavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral EcologyArticle
- Interactions between color and gloss in iridescent camouflage.Behavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral EcologyArticle
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
The importance of receiver biases in shaping the evolution of many signalling systems is widely acknowledged. Here, we show that receiver bias can explain which traits evolve to become warning signals. For warning coloration, a generalization bias for a signalling trait can result from predators learning to discriminate unprofitable from profitable prey. However, because the colour patterns of prey are complex traits with multiple components, it is crucial to understand which of the many aspects of prey appearance evolve into signals. We provide experimental evidence that the more salient differences in prey traits give rise to greater generalization bias, corresponding to stronger selection towards trait exaggeration. Our results are based on experiments with domestic chickens as predators in a Skinner-box-like setting, and imply that the difference in appearance between profitable and unprofitable prey that is most rapidly learnt produces the greatest generalization bias. As a consequence, certain salient traits of unprofitable prey are selected towards exaggeration to even higher salience, driving the evolution of warning coloration. This general idea may also help to explain the evolution of many other striking signalling traits found in nature.
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