Embracing the diversity in diverse warning signals

Swanne P Gordon; Caleb J Axelrod; Udita Bansal; Hannah Gurholt; Stephanie Tran; Yusan Yang

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2024.01.002

Embracing the diversity in diverse warning signals

Trends Ecol Evol. 2024 Mar;39(3):225-228. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2024.01.002. Epub 2024 Jan 23.

Authors

Swanne P Gordon¹, Caleb J Axelrod², Udita Bansal², Hannah Gurholt², Stephanie Tran², Yusan Yang³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Ecology and Evolution, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA. Electronic address: swannegordon@cornell.edu.
² Department of Ecology and Evolution, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
³ Department of Integrative Biology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA.

PMID: 38267287
DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2024.01.002

Abstract

Positive frequency-dependent selection should theoretically lead to monomorphic warning coloration. Instead, numerous examples of polymorphic warning signals exist. Biases - for example, in human perception - hinder our appreciation and research of understanding warning signal diversity. We propose strategies to counter such biases and objectively move our field forward.

Keywords: aposematism; bias; coloration; diversity; perception; polymorphism; warning signal.