Mullerian mimicry and the colouration patterns of sympatric coral snakes

This dataset cointains data used for the study of Müllerian mimicry in
coral snakes. Coral snakes in the genus Micrurus are venomous,
aposematic organisms that signal danger to predators through vivid
colouration. Previous studies found that they serve as models to several
harmless species of Batesian mimics. However, the extent to which Micrurus
species engage in Müllerian mimicry remains poorly understood. We
integrate detailed morphological and geographical distribution data to
investigate if coral snakes are Müllerian mimics. We found that
colouration is spatially structured and that Micrurus species tend to be
more similar where they co-occur. Though long supposed, we empirically
demonstrate Müllerian mimicry for the first time in coral snakes.
Additionally, we found that the length of red-coloured rings in Micrurus
is conserved, even at large geographic scales. This finding suggests that
bright red rings may be under more substantial stabilizing selection than
other aspects of colouration, and probably function as a generalized
signal for deterring predators.