SynthesisProceedings. Biological sciences2021
Meta-analytic evidence for quantitative honesty in aposematic signals.
Synthesis in Proceedings. Biological sciences, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The exploitation of sexual signals by predators: a meta-analysis.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2022Pooled it
- Meta-analytic evidence for quantitative honesty in aposematic signals.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2021Pooled it
- No evidence of quantitative honest signaling in aposematic traits of the green and black dendrobatid frogCurrent zoology · 2025Article
- Structural background of intraspecific color polymorphism and the driver of geographic patterns in a shining leaf chafer.Frontiers in zoology · 2025Article
- Function of Vivid Coloration of Terrestrial Isopods from the Point of View of an Avian Predator.Insects · 2025Article
- Diel activity correlates with colour pattern morphology of heterobranch sea slugs.The Journal of animal ecology · 2025Article
- Chemical defences indicate bold colour patterns with reduced variability in aposematic nudibranchs.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2024Article
- The evolution of prey-attraction strategies in spiders: the interplay between foraging and predator avoidance.Oecologia · 2023Review
- Antioxidant availability trades off with warning signals and toxin sequestration in the large milkweed bug (Ecology and evolution · 2023Article
- The banded colour patterns of sea snakes discourage attack by predatory fishes, enabling Batesian mimicry by harmless species.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2022Article
- The evolution of conspicuousness in frogs: When to signal toxicity?Journal of evolutionary biology · 2022Article
- A Framework for Investigating Rules of Life by Establishing Zones of Influence.Integrative and comparative biology · 2022Article
- Maternal care shapes an aposematic display and provides lifelong protection against predators.Behavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral EcologyArticle
- Highly defended nudibranchs "escape" to visually distinct background habitats.Behavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral EcologyArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The combined use of noxious chemical defences and conspicuous warning colours is a ubiquitous anti-predator strategy. That such signals advertise the presence of defences is inherent to their function, but their predicted potential for quantitative honesty-the positive scaling of signal salience with the strength of protection-is the subject of enduring debate. Here, we systematically synthesized the available evidence to test this prediction using meta-analysis. We found evidence for a positive correlation between warning colour expression and the extent of chemical defences across taxa. Notably, this relationship held at all scales; among individuals, populations and species, though substantial between-study heterogeneity remains unexplained. Consideration of the design of signals revealed that all visual features, from colour to contrast, were equally informative of the extent of prey defence. Our results affirm a central prediction of honesty-based models of signal function and narrow the scope of possible mechanisms shaping the evolution of aposematism. They suggest diverse pathways to the encoding and exchange of information, while highlighting the need for deeper knowledge of the ecology of chemical defences to enrich our understanding of this widespread anti-predator adaptation.
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Registered trials
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