Butterfly speciation and the distribution of gene effect sizes fixed during adaptation

Abstract

Mimicry has had a significant historical influence as a tractable system for studying adaptation and is known to play a role in speciation. Here, we discuss recent theoretical treatment of adaptive walks to local adaptive peaks and contrast this with the adaptive landscape of mimicry. Evolution of novel Müllerian mimicry patterns almost certainly involves substitution of a major mutation to provide an initial similarity to the model, such that major gene effects are expected to an even greater degree than for other adaptive traits. The likelihood of large adaptive peak shifts in mimicry evolution may therefore promote speciation. In addition, mimicry adaptive peaks are determined by the loca..