Synonyms
Definitions
An evolved resemblance of host eggs by the eggs of avian brood parasites, resulting from Darwinian natural selection.
Introduction
The interactions between avian brood parasites, such as cuckoos or cowbirds, and their hosts have emerged as model systems to study coevolutionary processes under natural conditions. Instead of building a nest and tending their offspring, brood parasites lay their eggs in the nests of other birds and abandon the care of their young to the host. Adult parasites tend to remove or damage host eggs when depositing their own and parasite chicks generally eliminate the rest of the host’s brood after hatching. Consequently, hosts evolve defences against brood parasites, which select counteradaptations in parasites, further counteradaptations in hosts, and so on. While evidence of reciprocal adaptations and counteradaptations in hosts and brood parasites are evident at all stages of the host’s nesting cycle...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
References
Brooke, M. de. L., & Davies, N. B. (1988). Egg mimicry by cuckoos Cuculus canorus in relation to discrimination by hosts. Nature, 335, 630–632. https://doi.org/10.1038/335630a0.
Feeney, W. E., Stoddard, M. C., Kilner, R. M., & Langmore, N. E. (2014a). “Jack-of-all-trades” egg mimicry in the brood parasitic Horsfield’s bronze-cuckoo? Behavioral Ecology, 25(6), 1365–1373. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/aru133.
Feeney, W. E., Welbergen, J. A., & Langmore, N. E. (2014b). Advances in the study of coevolution between avian brood parasites and their hosts. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 45(1), 227–246. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-120213-091603.
Fossøy, F., Sorenson, M. D., Liang, W., Ekrem, T., Moksnes, A., Møller, A. P., et al. (2016). Ancient origin and maternal inheritance of blue cuckoo eggs. Nature Communications, 7, 10272. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10272.
Gibbs, H. L., Sorenson, M. D., Marchetti, K., Brooke, M. d. L., Davies, N. B., & Nakamura, H. (2000). Genetic evidence for female host-specific races in the common cuckoo. Nature, 407, 183–186.
Spottiswoode, C. N. (2013). A brood parasite selects for its own egg traits. Biology Letters, 9(5), 20130573. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2013.0573.
Spottiswoode, C. N., & Stevens, M. (2010). Visual modeling shows that avian host parents use multiple visual cues in rejecting parasitic eggs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 107, 8672–8676. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0910486107.
Spottiswoode, C. N., & Stevens, M. (2012). Host-parasite arms races and rapid changes in bird egg appearance. American Naturalist, 179, 633–648. https://doi.org/10.1086/665031.
Stoddard, M. C., & Stevens, M. (2010). Pattern mimicry of host eggs by the common cuckoo, as seen through a bird’s eye. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 277, 1387–1393. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.2018.
Stoddard, M. C., & Stevens, M. (2011). Avian vision and the evolution of egg color mimicry in the common cuckoo. Evolution, 65, 2004–2013. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1558-5646.2011.01262.x.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Feeney, W.E. (2017). Egg Mimicry. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2677-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2677-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences