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1 July 2016 Egg Polymorphism and Egg Discrimination in the Daurian Redstart Phoenicurus auroreus, a Host of the Common Cuckoo Cuculus canorus
Canchao Yang, Zhumei Li, Yanyun Zhang, Haitao Wang, Wei Liang, Anders Pape Møller
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Abstract

The evolution of egg polymorphism based on strong egg discrimination by hosts of brood parasites may be a specific adaptation against avian brood parasitism. However, different cuckoo-host systems with egg polymorphism may differ in many other aspects during coevolution. We studied the interaction between the Common Cuckoo Cuculus canorus and its host, the Daurian Redstart Phoenicurus auroreus, and detected that cuckoos use an intermediate degree of egg monomorphism to parasitize contrasting dimorphic eggs laid by redstarts. However, redstarts only possess an intermediate ability of egg recognition of dissimilar egg phenotypes with a high degree of recognition error and long latency to rejection. We discuss possible explanations for these observations and suggest that the intermediate degree of egg mimicry in the cuckoo and egg recognition in the redstart may constitute an early stage of disruptive coevolution in egg phenotypes between cuckoos and hosts. Alternatively, intermediate polymorphism may be maintained as a result of an evolutionary equilibrium between hosts and parasites.

© The Ornithological Society of Japan 2016
Canchao Yang, Zhumei Li, Yanyun Zhang, Haitao Wang, Wei Liang, and Anders Pape Møller "Egg Polymorphism and Egg Discrimination in the Daurian Redstart Phoenicurus auroreus, a Host of the Common Cuckoo Cuculus canorus," Ornithological Science 15(2), 127-132, (1 July 2016). https://doi.org/10.2326/osj.15.127
Received: 8 January 2016; Accepted: 1 May 2016; Published: 1 July 2016
KEYWORDS
egg dimorphism
egg mimicry
Evolutionary equilibrium
Latency to rejection
Recognition error
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