Colour assortative pairing in a colour polymorphic lizard is independent of population morph diversity

Lanuza, Guillem Pérez i de; Font, Enrique; Carretero, Miguel Á.

doi:10.1007/s00114-016-1407-7

Cited by 20 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…) or the positive color assortative mating system shown by Pyrenean populations (Pérez i de Lanuza et al. , ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sex and age class were correctly determined in 100% and color morph in 95.8% of cases (see details in Pérez i de Lanuza et al. ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…74% of breeding pairs share the same ventral coloration; Pérez i de Lanuza et al. , ) and microsatellite analyses have revealed reduced gene flow between color morphs suggesting that assortative mating may have genetic consequences (Bellati ; for similar results in P. melisellensis see Huyghe et al. ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Morph composition shows geographic variation, ranging from monomorphic (white) populations to pentamorphic populations with white, yellow, orange, and intermediate white‐orange and yellow‐orange morphs (Pérez i de Lanuza et al. , ).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Intensity of male‐male competition predicts morph diversity in a color polymorphic lizard

2017

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Sexual selection is one of the main processes involved in the emergence and maintenance of heritable color polymorphisms in a variety of taxa. Here, we test whether the intensity of sexual selection, estimated from population sex ratio, predicts morph diversity in Podarcis muralis, a color polymorphic lizard with discrete white, yellow, orange, white-orange, and yellow-orange male and female phenotypes (i.e., morphs). In a sample of 116 Pyrenean populations and 5421 lizards, sex ratios (m/f) vary from 0.29 to 2.5, with the number of morphs for each sex ranging from 2 to 5. Male-biased sex ratios are associated with increased morph diversity as measured with Shannon's diversity index. The main factor accounting for this relationship is male morph richness (i.e., the number of morphs). In contrast, female morph diversity is not related to sex ratio. These results suggest a relationship between the intensity of male intrasexual competition and male morph diversity. While other selective forces may interact with sexual selection in maintaining the color polymorphisms in P. muralis, this evidence suggests a complex evolutionary scenario possibly involving frequency-dependent selection of alternative reproductive tactics and/or complex balancing selection.

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“…) or the positive color assortative mating system shown by Pyrenean populations (Pérez i de Lanuza et al. , ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sex and age class were correctly determined in 100% and color morph in 95.8% of cases (see details in Pérez i de Lanuza et al. ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 96%

mentioning

confidence: 98%

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confidence: 99%

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Intensity of male‐male competition predicts morph diversity in a color polymorphic lizard

2017

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“…orange, yellow, and white) and two intermediate morphs (i.e. orange‐white and orange‐yellow), and seems to play a role in mating patterns (Pérez i de Lanuza, Font & Carazo ; Pérez i de Lanuza, Font & Carretero ). Laterally, these lizards display small UV‐blue spots on some of the OVS, interspersed with black spots and the long‐wavelength‐biased ventral background.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Colour patch size and measurement error using reflectance spectrophotometry

et al. 2017

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Summary Over the past 20 years, portable and relatively affordable spectrophotometers have greatly advanced the study of animal coloration. However, the small size of many colour patches poses methodological challenges that have not, to date, been assessed in the literature. Here, we tackle this issue for a reflectance spectrophotometry set‐up widely used in ecology and evolution (the beam method). We reviewed the literature on animal coloration reporting the use of reflectance spectrophotometry to explore how the minimum measurable size of a colour patch is determined. We then used coloured plastic sheets to create artificial colour patches, and quantify the relationship between colour patch size and distortions induced by resulting chimeric spectra (spectra contaminated by an adjacent colour patch). Finally, we assessed the generality of our findings using natural colour spots in the lizard Podarcis muralis, as a biologically realistic model. We found a lack of consensus in the literature, frequently resulting in the rejection of valid data or the potential inclusion of unreliable data. As expected, we show that decreasing colour patch size reduces the reliability of reflectance measurements, but also that spectral distortions resulting from chimeric spectra depend on patch/background colour combinations. We found similar results using natural colour spots in P. muralis. We propose a series of steps to avoid the pitfalls described above. First, we provide guidelines on how to identify chimeric spectra and estimate the minimum size of a measurable colour patch in order to avoid them. Second, we show that reducing the probe‐to‐surface distance allows for more accurate measurements and therefore improves the spectrophotometric assessment of small colour patches. Third, we suggest that, as a general rule of thumb, very small (< 2 mm) colour patches should be avoided when using traditional spectrophotometry methods.

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No evidence for differential sociosexual behavior and space use in the color morphs of the European common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis)

Abalos

Lanuza

Bartolomé

et al. 2020

Ecology and Evolution

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Explaining the evolutionary origin and maintenance of color polymorphisms is a major challenge in evolutionary biology. Such polymorphisms are commonly thought to reflect the existence of alternative behavioral or life‐history strategies under negative frequency‐dependent selection. The European common wall lizard Podarcis muralis exhibits a striking ventral color polymorphism that has been intensely studied and is often assumed to reflect alternative reproductive strategies, similar to the iconic “rock–paper–scissors” system described in the North American lizard Uta stansburiana . However, available studies so far have ignored central aspects in the behavioral ecology of this species that are crucial to assess the existence of alternative reproductive strategies. Here, we try to fill this gap by studying the social behavior, space use, and reproductive performance of lizards showing different color morphs, both in a free‐ranging population from the eastern Pyrenees and in ten experimental mesocosm enclosures. In the natural population, we found no differences between morphs in site fidelity, space use, or male–female spatial overlap. Likewise, color morph was irrelevant to sociosexual behavior, space use, and reproductive success within experimental enclosures. Our results contradict the commonly held hypothesis that P. muralis morphs reflect alternative behavioral strategies, and suggest that we should instead turn our attention to alternative functional explanations.

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Colour assortative pairing in a colour polymorphic lizard is independent of population morph diversity

Cited by 20 publications

References 35 publications

Intensity of male‐male competition predicts morph diversity in a color polymorphic lizard

Intensity of male‐male competition predicts morph diversity in a color polymorphic lizard

Colour patch size and measurement error using reflectance spectrophotometry

No evidence for differential sociosexual behavior and space use in the color morphs of the European common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis)

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