Orton Richard W, Kinsey Chase T, McBrayer Lance D
Department of Biology University of Texas at Arlington Arlington TX USA.
Department of Biology Clemson University Clemson SC USA.
Ecol Evol. 2019 Oct 2;10(7):3152-3163. doi: 10.1002/ece3.5689. eCollection 2020 Apr.
Since Darwin, the maintenance of bright sexual colors has recurrently been linked to mate preference. However, the mechanisms underpinning such preferences for bright colors would not be resolved for another century. Likely, the idea of selection for colors that could decrease the chances of survival (e.g., flashy colors that can inadvertently attract predators) was perceived as counterintuitive. It is now widely accepted that these extreme colors often communicate to mates the ability to survive despite a "handicap" and act as honest signals of individual quality when they are correlated with the quality of other traits that are directly linked to individual fitness. Sexual colors in males are frequently perceived as indicators of infection resistance, in particular. Still, there remains considerable discord among studies attempting to parse the relationships between the variables associating sexual color and infection resistance, such as habitat type and body size. This discord may arise from complex interactions between these variables. Here, we ask if sexual color in male Florida scrub lizards () is an honest signal of resistance to chigger mite infection. To this end, we use linear modeling to explore relationships between mite load, different components of sexual color, ecological performance, body size, and habitat type. Our data show that that the brightness of sexual color in scrub lizards is negatively associated with the interaction between mite load and body size, and scrub lizards suffer decreased endurance capacity with increases in mite load. Our data also indicate that mite load, performance, and sexual color in male scrub lizards can vary between habitat types. Collectively, these results suggest that sexual color in scrub lizards is an honest indicator of individual quality and further underscore the importance of considering multiple factors when testing hypotheses related to the maintenance of sexual color.
自达尔文时代以来，鲜艳的性色彩的维持一直与配偶偏好反复联系在一起。然而，支撑这种对鲜艳颜色偏好的机制在接下来的一个世纪里都未能得到解决。可能是因为选择那些可能会降低生存几率的颜色（例如，华丽的颜色可能会无意中吸引捕食者）这一观点被认为是违反直觉的。现在人们普遍认为，这些极端的颜色通常向配偶传达了尽管有“不利条件”但仍具备生存能力的信息，并且当它们与其他直接与个体适应性相关的性状质量相关联时，就充当了个体质量的诚实信号。特别是，雄性的性色彩常常被视为抗感染能力的指标。尽管如此，在试图剖析与性色彩和抗感染能力相关的变量之间的关系（如栖息地类型和体型）的研究中，仍然存在相当大的分歧。这种分歧可能源于这些变量之间复杂的相互作用。在这里，我们探究雄性佛罗里达灌丛蜥蜴（）的性色彩是否是对恙螨感染抵抗力的诚实信号。为此，我们使用线性模型来探索螨虫负荷、性色彩的不同组成部分、生态表现、体型和栖息地类型之间的关系。我们的数据表明，灌丛蜥蜴性色彩的亮度与螨虫负荷和体型之间的相互作用呈负相关，并且随着螨虫负荷增加，灌丛蜥蜴的耐力会下降。我们的数据还表明，雄性灌丛蜥蜴的螨虫负荷、表现和性色彩在不同栖息地类型之间可能会有所不同。总体而言，这些结果表明灌丛蜥蜴的性色彩是个体质量的诚实指标，并进一步强调了在检验与性色彩维持相关的假设时考虑多个因素的重要性。
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