The evolutionary ecology of faking sick
- Luke Larter,
- James Barnett,
- Carl Keiser,
- Holly Moeller,
- Jonathan Pruitt
Abstract
Natural selection often produces traits that enable organisms to detect
and avoid infected conspecific or environments deemed to be of high risk
for parasite acquisition. We propose that such traits could foster the
evolution of dishonest signals of infection. We describe herein
instances where dishonest signals of infection could be favored by
natural selection and the various costs and benefits likely to be
associated with them. We further review the available evidence
suggesting that such traits could evolve and the ecological contexts
which might foster or impede their evolution. Finally, we provide a
model verifying that a stable frequency of dishonest signalers of
infection can be maintained in populations, at least in principle, and
that the stable frequency of dishonest signalers increases with the
prevalence of the infection. We conclude that dishonest signals of
infection could evolve and be maintained in a variety of systems and
warrant further scrutiny.