Female preference for sympatric vs. allopatric male throat color morphs in the mesquite lizard (Sceloporus grammicus) species complex.
Color polymorphic sexual signals are often associated with alternative reproductive behaviors within populations, and the number, frequency, or type of morphs present often vary among populations. When these differences lead to assortative mating by population, the study of such polymorphic taxa may shed light on speciation mechanisms. We studied two populations of a lizard with polymorphic throat color, an important sexual signal. Males in one population exhibit orange, yellow, or blue throats; whereas males in the other exhibit orange, yellow, or white throats. We assessed female behavior when choosing between allopatric and sympatric males. We asked whether females discriminated more when the allopatric male was of an unfamiliar morph than when the allopatric male was similar in coloration to the sympatric male. We found that female rejection of allopatric males relative to sympatric males was more pronounced when males in a pair were more different in throat color. Our findings may help illuminate how behavioral responses to color morph differences between populations with polymorphic sexual signals contribute to reproductive isolation.
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, United States of America.
Elizabeth
E
Bastiaans
Nanooptical Materials, Incorporated, Carson, California, United States of America.
Mary Jane
MJ
Bastiaans
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, United States of America.
Gen
G
Morinaga
Facultad en Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Juárez del Estado de Durango, Gómez Palacio, Durango, México.
José Gamaliel
JG
Castañeda Gaytán
Department of Zoology, Weber State University, Ogden, Utah, United States of America.
Jonathon C
JC
Marshall
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, United States of America.
Brendan
B
Bane
Laboratorio de Herpetología, Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Distrito Federal, México.
Fausto Méndez
FM
de la Cruz
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, United States of America.
Barry
B
Sinervo
D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D016018:Least-Squares Analysis; D008116:Lizards / Q000502:physiology*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D052586:Mating Preference, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D008800:Mexico; D010614:Pharynx / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D010858:Pigmentation / Q000502:physiology*; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D012098:Reproduction; D013045:Species Specificity; D061350:Sympatry; D013997:Time Factors