Dorsal pattern polymorphism in female Iberian wall lizards: differences in morphology, dorsal coloration, immune response, and reproductive investment

Abstract

Sex-specific colour polymorphisms have been extensively documented in many different taxa. When polymorphism in colour pattern is restricted to females, the condition is known as female-limited pattern polymorphism (FPP), which has been less commonly addressed in vertebrates. FPP is present in several lizard species, although most research on lizards has focused on carotenoid-and pteridine-based coloration and not on melanin-based polymorphisms. In the present study, we focus on Iberian wall lizards, Podarcis hispanicus, where two female melanin-based dorsal patterns can be clearly distinguished: striped and reticulated-blotched. We indirectly tested the hypothesis that selection acts differentially among P. hispanicus female morphs to create alternative morph-specific phenotypic optima at different levels by investigating whether morphs differ in fitness proxies. We specifically examined whether the two female dorsal pattern morphs differed in adult morphology, dorsal coloration, immune response, reproductive investment, and growth. We did not find a relationship between melanin-based coloration and hatchling growth and immune response, despite a correlation between these traits possibly being expected as a result of pleiotropy in the melanocortin system. However, our results show that female dorsal morphs in P. hispanicus differ in terms of adult morphology, dorsal coloration, and reproductive investment. Reticulated-blotched P. hispanicus females had deeper heads and longer femora, less melanin, and more brownish coloration, and also had larger and heavier hatchlings than striped females.

Grab my tail: evolution of dazzle stripes and colourful tails in lizards

“…Other than predation, colourful tails in lizards have been suggested to work in intraspecific communication such as social (Clark & Hall, ; Fresnillo et al ., 2015a) and sexual signalling (Kwiatkowski & Sullivan, ; Belliure et al ., ). Further, striped coloration is reported to be one of the commonest forms of colour pattern observed in some species of lizards with female‐limited pattern polymorphism and is thought to reflect selection due to different life history strategies (Paemelaere et al ., ; Ortega et al ., ). Therefore, it is possible that in some lizard species that were classified to have stripes and colourful tails in our study, these traits have functions unrelated to predation.…”

Trait differences among discrete morphs of a color polymorphic lizard,Podarcis erhardii

“…Few studies on color morph differences in morphology, performance, behavior, and physiology include females ( Sinervo & Lively, 1996 ; Huyghe et al., 2009a ; Huyghe et al., 2009b ; Bastiaans et al, 2013 ), which combined with long-held assumptions about female reproductive behavior has hindered our understanding of underlying mechanisms of evolution ( Kamath & Losos, 2017 ). An interesting and open question is whether female color morphs differ in their reproductive strategies and behaviors ( Vercken & Clobert, 2008 ; Galeotti et al, 2013 ; Ortega et al, 2015 ), particularly if they have a preference for males based on color ( Pérezi De Lanuza, Font & Carazo, 2013 ), morph-correlated traits, or both. Future study on P. erhardii color morph reproductive strategies and their effects on fitness are needed to provide insight into mechanisms that balance and maintain color polymorphism.…”

Deceived by stripes: conspicuous patterning on vital anterior body parts can redirect predatory strikes to expendable posterior organs

“…A large proportion of lacertilian (lizard) species have contrasting stripes that run parallel to the body and therefore the direction of motion (hereafter longitudinal stripes; figure 1 a ). Studies have focused on correlations between longitudinal stripes and factors such as escape strategy [ 16 , 17 ], morphometrics [ 18 , 19 ], fitness proxies [ 18 ] and activity patterns [ 19 ]. A special feature of striped markings in most striped lacertilians is that they are localized on the trunk, while the tail is plainly coloured ( figure 1 a ; electronic supplementary material, figure S10).…”