Predators Make (Temporary) Escape from Coevolutionary Arms Race

Liza Gross

doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060075

Abstract

Predators Make (Temporary) Escape from Coevolutionary Arms Race

Highlights

Cute and spanning at most 20 cm from head to tail, the roughskinned newt packs pretty near the most poisonous punch known to the animal kingdom
Why produce enough poison to kill a potential predator several times over? To discourage the one predator—the common garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis)—that’s resistant enough to the poison to count on newts as a food source
In a new study, Charles Hanifin, Edmund Brodie, Jr., and Edmund Brodie, III, show that even the most potent toxin on Earth proves no defense against garter snakes that have managed to escape from this coevolutionary tit for tat by developing extreme resistance to the newt’s toxin

Summary

Introduction

Cute and spanning at most 20 cm from head to tail, the roughskinned newt packs pretty near the most poisonous punch known to the animal kingdom. In a classic example of a coevolutionary arms race, the resistance of the snake places selective pressure on the increasing toxicity of the newt, which in turn drives increasing resistance in the snake. In a new study, Charles Hanifin, Edmund Brodie, Jr., and Edmund Brodie, III, show that even the most potent toxin on Earth proves no defense against garter snakes that have managed to escape from this coevolutionary tit for tat by developing extreme resistance to the newt’s toxin.

Results

Conclusion