Credit: Gan Cheong Weei
A new study by researchers at the University of Chicago and the City College of New York (CCNY) has identified a unique, genetic mimicry switch that determines whether or not male and female Elymnias hypermnestra palmflies mimic the same or different species of butterflies. The results indicate that sexual dimorphism has repeatedly emerged in different palmfly populations, and linked the trait to a gene associated with melanin localization and regulation.
Published on Jan. 13 in the journal
Royal Proceedings of the Academy B, these results can help scientists start to better understand the genetics underlying phenotypic differences between males and females in the animal kingdom, investigators say.