Geographic variation in mimetic precision among different species of coral snake mimics

Batesian mimicry is widespread, but whether and why different species of mimics vary geographically in resemblance to their model is unclear. We characterized geographic variation in mimetic precision among four Batesian mimics of coral snakes. Each mimic occurs where its model is abundant (i.e., in “deep sympatry”), rare (i.e., at the sympatry/allopatry boundary or “edge sympatry”), and absent (i.e., in allopatry). Geographic variation in mimetic precision was qualitatively different among these mimics. In one mimic, the most precise individuals occurred in edge sympatry; in another, they occurred in deep sympatry; in the third, they occurred in allopatry; and in the fourth, precise mimics were not concentrated anywhere throughout their range. Mimicry was less precise in allopatry than in sympatry in only two mimics. We present several non-mutually exclusive hypotheses for these patterns. Generally, examining geographic variation in mimetic precision—within and among different mimics—o...

贝茨拟态（Batesian mimicry）在自然界中广泛存在，但不同拟物物种的拟态相似性是否存在地理变异、以及该变异的成因目前仍不明确。本研究针对4种以珊瑚蛇（coral snake）为模型的贝茨拟态物种，刻画了其拟态精度（mimetic precision）的地理变异特征。
每一种拟物的分布范围均覆盖三类区域：其模型物种丰富的“深度同域分布（sympatry）”区、模型物种稀少的同域-异域分布交界带（或称“边缘同域分布区”），以及模型物种完全缺失的异域分布（allopatry）区。
上述拟物物种的拟态精度地理变异模式存在质的差异：其中一种拟物的高拟态精度个体集中于边缘同域分布区；第二种的高精度个体集中于深度同域分布区；第三种的高精度个体集中于异域分布区；第四种的高精度个体则未在其分布范围内呈现任何集中分布趋势。
仅在2种拟物物种中，异域分布区的拟态精度低于同域分布区。
本研究针对上述观测模式提出了若干非互斥性假说。总体而言，针对不同拟物物种内部及物种间的拟态精度地理变异展开研究——