Coevolutionary arms race and sympatric speciation in tropical cuckoos: the role of visual mimicry in parasitic chicks
| Project/Area Number |
24770028
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Research Field |
Ecology/Environment
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| Research Institution | Rikkyo University |
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Principal Investigator |
TANAKA Keita 立教大学, 理学部, 特定課題研究員 (30625059)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2012-04-01 – 2016-03-31
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| Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 2015)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥4,810,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,110,000)
Fiscal Year 2014: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000)
Fiscal Year 2013: ¥1,170,000 (Direct Cost: ¥900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥270,000)
Fiscal Year 2012: ¥2,990,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥690,000)
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| Keywords | 托卵鳥 / 軍拡競争共進化 / 熱帯 / 視覚擬態 / 識別 / 色彩多型 / 皮膚色多型 / 鳥類の色覚 / 托卵 / 軍拡競争 / 共進化 / 雛擬態 / 種分化 / 国際研究者交流 / ニューカレドニア（フランス特別共同体） / オーストラリア |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
Brood parasitic birds exploit parental care of host species by laying their eggs in host nests. In most brood parasites, parasitic eggs mimic host eggs in appearance, which should have evolved to evade host parents’ discrimination. In bronze-cuckoos, distributing in tropical Asia and Oceania, parasitic chicks are known to mimic host chicks. I investigated a bronze-cuckoo in New Caledonia, and discovered polymorphism in nestling skin colour both in the cuckoo and its host: chicks have either dark or pale skin, clearly different from each other. This polymorphism would be a consequence of the escalating coevolutionary arms race between them. Chick mimicry first evolved in the parasite to evade host discrimination. Then, a novel chick skin colour evolved in the host to escape parasite’s mimicry, which triggered the evolution of mimics of the novel-coloured host chick in the parasite to catch up with the host. This was the first ever discovery of chick polymorphism in wild birds.
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Report
(5 results)
Research Products
(26 results)
