Fernández Jimena B, Bastiaans Elizabeth, Medina Marlin, Méndez De la Cruz Fausto R, Sinervo Barry R, Ibargüengoytía Nora R
Laboratorio de Ecofisiología e Historia de vida de Reptiles, Departamento de Zoología, Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche, Universidad Nacional del Comahue, INIBIOMA-CONICET, Quintral 1250, 8400, Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina.
Biology Department, State University of New York, College at Oneonta, Oneonta, NY, 13820, USA.
J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol. 2018 Feb;204(2):219-230. doi: 10.1007/s00359-017-1233-1. Epub 2017 Nov 30.
Integrative behavioral studies show that the interplay between individual physiology and social behavior influences the ecology of the species, ultimately affecting individual fitness. Particularly in lizards, color polymorphism is associated with differential behaviors and reproductive strategies, which are evident in mature males during the mating season. Dominant males generally have greater endurance, higher body temperature, and larger bodies than submissive males, so they can acquire and defend larger territories and have greater access to females for mating. We studied whether the color morphs observed in males of one of the world's southernmost reptiles, Liolaemus sarmientoi, are related to behavioral variation during agonistic interactions, thermal physiology, morphology, and/or locomotor stamina. Liolaemus sarmientoi males exhibit three color morphs: red (RR), red-yellow (RY), and yellow (YY). These lizards exhibit subtle behavioral displays and we did not observe stamina differences among morphs. However, we found that RR males are more aggressive than YY males during agonistic encounters. In addition, greater body temperature change during trials, higher field body temperatures, and greater head sizes of RR males compared to RY or YY indicate that RR is a dominant morph, which may influence their ability to acquire and defend territory and tactics for achieving reproductive success.
综合行为研究表明，个体生理与社会行为之间的相互作用会影响物种的生态，最终影响个体的适应性。特别是在蜥蜴中，颜色多态性与不同的行为和繁殖策略相关，这在交配季节的成年雄性蜥蜴中很明显。占主导地位的雄性蜥蜴通常比顺从的雄性具有更强的耐力、更高的体温和更大的体型，因此它们能够获得并保卫更大的领地，并有更多机会接近雌性进行交配。我们研究了世界最南端的爬行动物之一萨尔米恩托氏鬃狮蜥雄性个体中观察到的颜色形态是否与争斗互动期间的行为变化、热生理学、形态学和/或运动耐力有关。萨尔米恩托氏鬃狮蜥雄性个体表现出三种颜色形态：红色（RR）、红黄相间（RY）和黄色（YY）。这些蜥蜴表现出微妙的行为表现，我们没有观察到不同形态之间的耐力差异。然而，我们发现RR雄性在争斗相遇时比YY雄性更具攻击性。此外，与RY或YY相比，RR雄性在试验期间体温变化更大、野外体温更高且头部尺寸更大，这表明RR是一种占主导地位的形态，这可能会影响它们获取和保卫领地的能力以及实现繁殖成功的策略。
