Colour morph predicts social behaviour and contest outcomes in a polymorphic lizard (Podarcis erhardii)

Brock, Kinsey M.; Chelini, Marie Claire; Ayton, Cole; Madden, Indiana E.; Ramos, Cynthia; Blois, Jessica L.; Pafilis, Panayiotis; Edwards, Danielle L.

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.06.017

Cited by 16 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 85 publications

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“…Overall, our results provide more evidence that P. erhardii color morphs have alternative trait combinations and for that reason may utilize different environmental resources (BeVier et al, 2022;Brock & Madden, 2022;Brock et al, 2022a). Morph differences in temperature preference have profound implications for morph coexistence and morph life histories, especially in thermally sensitive species like ectotherms.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 66%

“…Given their similar choices for microhabitat that is open and hotter (Brock & Madden, 2022;BeVier et al, 2022), we hypothesize that white and yellow morphs would not have significantly different preferred temperatures from one another. Past experimental and natural observations of P. erhardii behavior indicate that white morphs are more active than other morphs (Brock & Madden, 2022;Brock et al, 2022a); because of this, we also hypothesized that white morphs should shuttle more between cooler and hotter temperatures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Like many Podarcis lizards, adult P. erhardii have three genetically determined throat color morphs that are orange, white, or yellow (Andrade et al, 2019; Brock et al, 2022c; Figure 1). Podarcis erhardii color morphs differ in throat color brightness (Brock et al, 2020), body size, behavior (Brock et al, 2022a), and habitat use (BeVier et al, 2022; Brock & Madden, 2022), which are traits that could have implications for morph differences in thermal preferences (Digby, 1955; Forsman, 2000). In general, P. erhardii orange morphs and white morphs tend to be most different from each other in these traits, and yellow morphs usually exhibit intermediate phenotypes in a suite of physical and behavioral traits (Brock et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Orange morphs are found more often in microhabitats that have more vegetation and are cooler; in contrast, white and yellow morphs are more often found in areas that are open and hotter (BeVier et al, 2022). In laboratory behavioral experiments conducted on male color morphs, orange morphs were the least bold and aggressive, yellow morphs were intermediate, and white morphs were the most active, aggressive, and adept at winning contests over limited open basking space (Brock et al, 2022a). These differences in P. erhardii color morph morphology, microhabitat selection, and social behavior may play a role in their thermoregulatory behavior and thermal preferences.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Some like it hotter: differential thermal preferences among lizard color morphs

Thompson

Kapsanaki

Liwanag

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Temperature rules the lives of ectotherms. To perform basic biological functions, ectotherms must make behavioral adjustments to keep their body temperatures near a preferred temperature (Tpref). Many color polymorphic lizards are active thermoregulators and exhibit morph differences in traits related to thermoregulation, such as color, body size, and microhabitat use. The Aegean wall lizard,Podarcis erhardii, is a heliothermic lizard with orange, white, and yellow color morphs that differ in size, behavior, and microhabitat use. Here, we tested whetherP. erhardiicolor morphs from the same population from Naxos island, Greece, differ in Tpref. We hypothesized that orange morphs would prefer lower temperatures than white and yellow morphs because orange morphs are often found on cooler substrates and in microhabitats with more vegetation cover. We obtained Tpref for 95 individuals using laboratory thermal gradient experiments of wild-caught lizards and found that orange morphs do, indeed, prefer significantly cooler temperatures, regardless of body size differences. Average orange morph Tpref was 2.3 ºC lower than average white and yellow morph Tpref. Our results add support to the idea thatP. erhardiicolor morphs have multivariate alternative phenotypes and present the possibility that thermally heterogeneous environments play a role in the maintenance of color polymorphism in this species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 66%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Some like it hotter: differential thermal preferences among lizard color morphs

Thompson

Kapsanaki

Liwanag

et al. 2022

Preprint

Self Cite

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“…This hypothesis is supported in many examples of species-wide and male polymorphism where alternative phenotypes are not only visually distinct but morphologically, physiologically and behaviourally divergent as well (e.g. [24][25][26]; reviewed in [5,6]). Alternative behavioural strategies are typically maintained because one strategy competes against the other most effectively when rare, though the specific parameters influencing these dynamics are diverse [6,27,28].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Intersexual social dominance mimicry drives female hummingbird polymorphism

et al. 2022

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Female-limited polymorphisms, where females have multiple forms but males have only one, have been described in a variety of animals, yet are difficult to explain because selection typically is expected to decrease rather than maintain diversity. In the white-necked jacobin ( Florisuga mellivora ), all males and approximately 20% of females express an ornamented plumage type (androchromic), while other females are non-ornamented (heterochromic). Androchrome females benefit from reduced social harassment, but it remains unclear why both morphs persist. Female morphs may represent balanced alternative behavioural strategies, but an alternative hypothesis is that androchrome females are mimicking males. Here, we test a critical prediction of these hypotheses by measuring morphological, physiological and behavioural traits that relate to resource-holding potential (RHP), or competitive ability. In all these traits, we find little difference between female types, but higher RHP in males. These results, together with previous findings in this species, indicate that androchrome females increase access to food resources through mimicry of more aggressive males. Importantly, the mimicry hypothesis provides a clear theoretical pathway for polymorphism maintenance through frequency-dependent selection. Social dominance mimicry, long suspected to operate between species, can therefore also operate within species, leading to polymorphism and perhaps similarities between sexes more generally.

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Morph-specific differences in escape behavior in a color polymorphic lizard

Brock

Madden

2022

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Variation in color morph behavior is an important factor in the maintenance of color polymorphism. Alternative anti-predator behaviors are often associated with morphological traits such as coloration, possibly because predator-mediated viability selection favors certain combinations of anti-predator behavior and color. The Aegean wall lizard, Podarcis erhardii, is color polymorphic and populations can have up to three monochromatic morphs: orange, yellow, and white. We investigated whether escape behaviors differ among coexisting color morphs, and if morph behaviors are repeatable across different populations with the same predator species. Specifically, we assessed color morph flight initiation distance (FID), distance to the nearest refuge (DNR), and distance to chosen refuge (DR) in two populations of Aegean wall lizards from Naxos island. We also analyzed the type of refugia color morphs selected and their re-emergence behavior following a standardized approach. We found that orange morphs have different escape behaviors from white and yellow morphs, and these differences are consistent in both populations we sampled. Orange morphs have shorter FIDs, DNRs, and DRs; select different refuge types; and re-emerge less often after being approached compared to white and yellow morphs. Observed differences in color morph escape behaviors support the idea that morphs have evolved alternative behavioral strategies that may play a role in population-level morph maintenance and loss. Significance statement Color polymorphic species often differ in behaviors related to reproduction, but differences in other behaviors are relatively underexplored. In this study, we use an experimental approach in two natural populations of color populations of color polymorphic lizards to determine that color morphs have diverged in their escape behaviors. By conducting our experiments in two different populations with similar predator regimes, we show for the first time that behavioral differences among intra-specific color morphs are repeatable across populations, suggesting that alternative behavioral strategies have evolved in this species. Using this experimental approach, we demonstrate that the brightest orange morph stays closer to refuge than other morphs, uses a different refuge type (vegetation) more often than other morphs (wall crevices), and take much longer to emerge from refuge after a simulated predation event than other morphs. Thus, selective pressures from visual predators may differ between morphs and play a role in the evolution and maintenance of color polymorphisms in these types of systems. Our study species, Podarcis erhardii, belongs to a highly color polymorphic genus (19/23 spp. are color polymorphic) that contains the same three color morphs, thus we believe our results may be relevant to more than just P. erhardii.

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Colour morph predicts social behaviour and contest outcomes in a polymorphic lizard (Podarcis erhardii)

Cited by 16 publications

References 85 publications

Some like it hotter: differential thermal preferences among lizard color morphs

Some like it hotter: differential thermal preferences among lizard color morphs

Intersexual social dominance mimicry drives female hummingbird polymorphism

Morph-specific differences in escape behavior in a color polymorphic lizard

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