Red coloration in juvenile spiny-footed lizards, Acanthodactylus erythrurus, reduces adult aggression

Fresnillo, Belén; Belliure, Josabel; Cuervo, José Javier

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2015.01.004

Cited by 15 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 49 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…S1). Multiple hypotheses have been proposed to explain the adaptive function of colourful tails, including reduction of intraspecific aggression between individuals of different age groups (Clark & Hall, ; Fresnillo et al ., 2015a) and sexual signalling (Kwiatkowski & Sullivan, ; Belliure et al ., ). Most lizards possess the ability to autotomize their tails (Bateman & Fleming, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Murali

Merilaita

Kodandaramaiah

2018

J of Evolutionary Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Understanding the functions of animal coloration has been a long-standing question in evolutionary biology. For example, the widespread occurrence of striking longitudinal stripes and colourful tails in lizards begs for an explanation. Experiments have suggested that colourful tails can deflect attacks towards the tail (the 'deflection' hypothesis), which is sacrificable in most lizards, thereby increasing the chance of escape. Studies also suggest that in moving lizards, longitudinal body stripes can redirect predators' strikes towards the tail through the 'motion dazzle' effect. Despite these experimental studies, the ecological factors associated with the evolution of such striking colorations remain unexplored. Here, we investigated whether predictions from motion dazzle and attack deflection could explain the widespread occurrence of these striking marks using comparative methods and information on eco-physiological variables (caudal autotomy, diel activity, microhabitat and body temperature) potentially linked to their functioning. We found both longitudinal stripes and colourful tails are associated with diurnal activity and with the ability to lose the tail. Compared to stripeless species, striped species are more likely to be ground-dwelling and have higher body temperature, emphasizing the connection of stripes to mobility and rapid escape strategy. Colourful tails and stripes have evolved multiple times in a correlated fashion, suggesting that their functions may be linked. Overall, our results together with previous experimental studies support the notion that stripes and colourful tails in lizards may have protective functions based on deflective and motion dazzle effects.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Murali

Merilaita

Kodandaramaiah

2018

J of Evolutionary Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…They were different for each lizard to allow individual identification (Guillén-Salazar et al, 2007) (Yves Rocher Company). The markings were made with different colour nail polish (using colours other than red to avoid effects on behaviour or detectability, Fresnillo et al, 2015aFresnillo et al, , 2015b) depending on the area and on the side of the walkway they were captured.…”

Section: Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Walkway on coastal dunes negatively affects mobility of the spiny–footed lizard Acanthodactylus erythrurus

Carpio¹,

Figueras²,

Tortosa³

2017

Anim. Biodiv. Conserv.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…For example, in birds, males with artificially decreased patches are less aggressive during social interactions (Järvistö et al, 2013), and the manipulation itself can lead to decreases in the size of the actual patch (e.g., Dey et al, 2014). In spiny-footed lizards, adult aggression was reduced toward juveniles with experimentally manipulated red coloration (Fresnillo, Belliure, & Cuervo, 2015). Experimentally painted wasps received more aggression, which changed juvenile hormone levels of both signalers and receivers (Tibbetts, Crocker, & Huang, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Information‐gathering as a response to manipulated signals in the eastern fence lizard, Sceloporus undulatus

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Colorful visual signals are used across taxa to convey information during agonistic male‐male encounters, which are important for sexual selection. Although much is known about the information content of color signals, less is known about how receivers interpret this information. Here, using territorial Sceloporus undulatus lizards in a natural setting, we examined receiver response to intruders with different color patch sizes to determine (a) if patch size conveys information assessed during male‐male interactions and (b) if/how receivers modulate their behavioral responses to different types of behavioral signals. We found that larger lizards had longer and wider patches, indicating that the size of the patches may be one of the many characteristics of these patches that is used by males to convey information. Free‐ranging subject males also produced more headbob displays in response to intruders with small patches and took marginally longer to react to intruders with large patches. However, we found no differences in the aggressiveness of the response (i.e., fullshows). This indicates that patch size conveys information that is employed during territorial disputes, but that the response is primarily in terms of timing, allowing lizards to gather more information about intruders, instead of aggressive behavior (i.e., fullshows).

show abstract

Red coloration in juvenile spiny-footed lizards, Acanthodactylus erythrurus, reduces adult aggression

Cited by 15 publications

References 49 publications

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

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

Walkway on coastal dunes negatively affects mobility of the spiny–footed lizard Acanthodactylus erythrurus

Information‐gathering as a response to manipulated signals in the eastern fence lizard, Sceloporus undulatus

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About