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Evolution of Resistance to Toxins in Prey

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Evolution of Venomous Animals and Their Toxins

Part of the book series: Toxinology ((TOXI))

Abstract

Venoms, as simple to complex mixtures of toxic components, are well understood to be used as trophic weapons by a range of predator species. Ecological predictions obviate the response of putative prey species against predator attacks, such as the development of biochemical defenses that allow prey species to evade predation, namely, resistance. Current hypothetical predictions indicate that venom toxicity and resistance form an antagonistic dyad that may be described as a coevolutionary chemical arms race. The development of resistance in prey populations is expected to drive the evolution of novel toxicities in predator populations and vice versa, given that predator-prey pairs are stably associated through evolutionary time. The utility of a chemical arms race model to describe toxicity-resistance systems as well as known information about natural resistance mechanisms derived against venomous predators are discussed across prey species of a wide range of venomous predators. The efficacy of resistance, mechanism(s) of resistance, phylogenetic breadth of resistance, and phylogeographic distribution of resistance are provided where information is available. For many predator groups, known prey resistance is not well described, and we discuss the cause(s) of such a gap in understanding, as well as future directions for resistance research and application of known resistance information for practical and theoretical purposes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Sciences, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO, USA

    Thomas M. McCabe & Stephen P. Mackessy

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  1. Thomas M. McCabe
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  2. Stephen P. Mackessy
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Correspondence to Thomas M. McCabe .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, Gwynedd, United Kingdom

    Anita Malhotra

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McCabe, T.M., Mackessy, S.P. (2017). Evolution of Resistance to Toxins in Prey. In: Malhotra, A. (eds) Evolution of Venomous Animals and Their Toxins. Toxinology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6458-3_6

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