Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 11 September 1981:
Vol. 213. no. 4513, pp. 1207 - 1212
DOI: 10.1126/science.213.4513.1207
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

Coral Snake Mimicry: Does It Occur?

Harry W. Greene 1 and Roy W. McDiarmid 2

1 Assistant curator of herpetology in the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology and an assistant professor of zoology, University of California, Berkeley 94720
2 Curator of reptiles and amphibians in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C. 20560

Field observations and experimental evidence refute previous objections to the coral snake mimicry hypothesis. Concordant color pattern variation spanning hundreds of miles and several presumed venomous models strongly suggests that several harmless or mildly venomous colubrid snakes are indeed mimics of highly venomous elapids.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
High-model abundance may permit the gradual evolution of Batesian mimicry: an experimental test.
D. W. Kikuchi and D. W. Pfennig (2009)
Proc R Soc B
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Mimicry on the edge: why do mimics vary in resemblance to their model in different parts of their geographical range?.
G. R Harper Jr and D. W Pfennig (2007)
Proc R Soc B 274, 1955-1961
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Evidence for a Mullerian mimetic radiation in Asian pitvipers.
K.L Sanders, A Malhotra, and R.S Thorpe (2006)
Proc R Soc B 273, 1135-1141
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)