TY - JOUR
T1 - A shared chemical basis of avian host-parasite egg colour mimicry
AU - Igic, Branislav
AU - Cassey, Phillip
AU - Grim, Tomáš
AU - Greenwood, David R.
AU - Moskát, Csaba
AU - Rutila, Jarkko
AU - Hauber, Mark E.
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - Avian brood parasites lay their eggs in other birds' nests and impose considerable fitness costs on their hosts. Historically and scientifically, the best studied example of circum-enting host defences is the mimicry of host eggshell colour by the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus). Yet the chemical basis of eggshell colour similarity, which impacts hosts' tolerance towards parasitic eggs, remains unknown. We tested the alternati-e scenarios that (i) cuckoos replicate host egg pigment chemistry, or (ii) cuckoos use alternatie mechanisms to produce a similar perceptual effect to mimic host egg appearance. In parallel with patterns of similarity in avian-perceived colour mimicry, the concentrations of the two key eggshell pigments, bilierdin and protoporphyrin, were most similar between the cuckoo host-races and their respective hosts. Thus, the chemical basis of avian host-parasite egg colour mimicry is eolutionarily consered, but also intraspecifically flexible. These analyses of pigment composition reveal a noel proximate dimension of coeolutionary interactions between avian brood parasites and hosts, and imply that alternatie phenotypes may arise by the modifications of already existing biochemical and physiological mechanisms and pathways.
AB - Avian brood parasites lay their eggs in other birds' nests and impose considerable fitness costs on their hosts. Historically and scientifically, the best studied example of circum-enting host defences is the mimicry of host eggshell colour by the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus). Yet the chemical basis of eggshell colour similarity, which impacts hosts' tolerance towards parasitic eggs, remains unknown. We tested the alternati-e scenarios that (i) cuckoos replicate host egg pigment chemistry, or (ii) cuckoos use alternatie mechanisms to produce a similar perceptual effect to mimic host egg appearance. In parallel with patterns of similarity in avian-perceived colour mimicry, the concentrations of the two key eggshell pigments, bilierdin and protoporphyrin, were most similar between the cuckoo host-races and their respective hosts. Thus, the chemical basis of avian host-parasite egg colour mimicry is eolutionarily consered, but also intraspecifically flexible. These analyses of pigment composition reveal a noel proximate dimension of coeolutionary interactions between avian brood parasites and hosts, and imply that alternatie phenotypes may arise by the modifications of already existing biochemical and physiological mechanisms and pathways.
KW - Eggshell coloration
KW - Host-parasite similarity
KW - Mass spectrometry
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84856774903&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1098/rspb.2011.1718
DO - 10.1098/rspb.2011.1718
M3 - Article
SN - 0962-8452
VL - 279
SP - 1068
EP - 1076
JO - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
JF - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
IS - 1731
ER -