Eggs have traditionally been seen as the main battleground of brood parasite and host in their evolutionary arms race. The story goes something like this: A brood parasite targets a new host species, duping its victim into accepting its egg and raising its offspring. Eventually, the host evolves the ability to detect the foreign eggs and reject them. The parasite then evolves eggs that mimic the color and pattern of the host’s eggs so closely that they escape detection. In turn, the host has two defenses: change the look of its own eggs, or heighten its ability to distinguish them from those
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