Ultraviolet and carotenoid‐based coloration in the viviparous lizard Zootoca vivipara (Squamata: Lacertidae) in relation to age,sex, and morphology

Lizards display structural and pigment‐based colorations, and their visual system is sensitive to wavelengths of 300–700 nm. However, few studies in squamate reptiles have quantified interindividual colour variation that includes the structural ultraviolet (UV) component (300–400 nm). In the present study, we investigated variability of a ventral UV/yellow–red ornamentation in the common lizard Zootoca vivipara, including an analysis of spatial distribution, as well as sex and age differences. We also investigated whether the expression of coloration is related to body size and condition. Our analyses revealed two distinct patches: a gular patch with a strong UV reflectance and a belly patch with a dominant yellow–red reflectance. Males displayed a less saturated throat coloration with higher UV chroma and UV hue, and had a redder but duller belly coloration than females. Yearlings had less elaborate ornaments than adults, although they already displayed a yellow–red sexual dichromatism on the belly. UV sexual dichromatism was only apparent in adults as a result of a weaker UV reflectance in females, suggesting potential fitness costs of a bright UV coloration in that sex. Different colour traits were related to body size in both sexes, as well as to body condition in males. We discuss the potential evolutionary scenarios leading to the maintenance of this ornament in common lizards. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2013, 110 , 128–141.     

Reflectance of sexually dichromatic UV‐blue patches varies during the breeding season and between two subspecies of Gallotia galloti (Squamata: Lacertidae)

Body coloration is sexually dimorphic in many vertebrate species, including lizards, in which males are often more conspicuous than females. A detailed analysis of the relative size of coloured patches and their reflectance, including the ultraviolet (UV) range, has rarely been performed. In the present work we quantified sexual dimorphism in body traits and surface area of all lateral patches from adult females and males of two subspecies of Gallotia galloti (G. g. galloti and G. g. eisentrauti). We also analysed the magnitude of sexual dichromatism in the UV‐visible reflectance of such patches and the changes in patch size and brightness during the reproductive season (April–July). Males had significantly larger patch areas (relative to their snout‐vent length) and higher brightness (mainly in the UV‐blue range) than did females in both subspecies. The comparison of relative patch areas among months did not reach statistical significance. However, patch brightness significantly changed during the breeding season: that of the UV‐blue (300–495 nm) range from lizards of the two subspecies was significantly larger in June than in April, while brightness in the 495–700 nm range in G. g. galloti was larger in May, June, and July than in April. A different pattern of dichromatism was also detected in the two populations, with G. g. eisentrauti being more sexually dichromatic than G. g. galloti. We discuss the results in terms of possible evolutionary causes for the sexual dichromatism related to different ecological characteristics of the habitats where each subspecies live. © 2014 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2014, 113 , 556–569.     

Sex-specific niche partitioning and sexual size dimorphism in Australian pythons (Morelia spilota imbricata)

Sexual dimorphism is usually interpreted in terms of reproductive adaptations, but the degree of sex divergence also may be affected by sex-based niche partitioning. In gape-limited animals like snakes, the degree of sexual dimorphism in body size (SSD) or relative head size can determine the size spectrum of ingestible prey for each sex. Our studies of one mainland and four insular Western Australian populations of carpet pythons ( Morelia spilota ) reveal remarkable geographical variation in SSD, associated with differences in prey resources available to the snakes. In all five populations, females grew larger than males and had larger heads relative to body length. However, the populations differed in mean body sizes and relative head sizes, as well as in the degree of sexual dimorphism in these traits. Adult males and females also diverged strongly in dietary composition: males consumed small prey (lizards, mice and small birds), while females took larger mammals such as possums and wallabies. Geographic differences in the availability of large mammalian prey were linked to differences in mean adult body sizes of females (the larger sex) and thus contributed to sex-based resource partitioning. For example, in one population adult male snakes ate mice and adult females ate wallabies; in another, birds and lizards were important prey types for both sexes. Thus, the high degree of geographical variation among python populations in sexually dimorphic aspects of body size and shape plausibly results from geographical variation in prey availability.  © 2002 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2002, 77 , 113–125.     

Functional basis for sexual differences in bite force in the lizard Anolis carolinensis

In many species of lizards, males attain greater body size and have larger heads than female lizards of the same size. Often, the dimorphism in head size is paralleled by a dimorphism in bite force. However, the underlying functional morphological basis for the dimorphism in bite force remains unclear. Here, we test whether males are larger, and have larger heads and bite forces than females for a given body size in a large sample of Anolis carolinensis . Next, we test if overall head shape differs between the sexes, or if instead specific aspects of skull shape can explain differences in bite force. Our results show that A. carolinensis is indeed dimorphic in body and head size and that males bite harder than females. Geometric morphometric analyses show distinct differences in skull shape between males and females, principally reflecting an enlargement of the jaw adductor muscle chamber. Jaw adductor muscle mass data confirm this result and show that males have larger jaw adductors (but not jaw openers) for a given body and head size. Thus, the observed dimorphism in bite force in A. carolinensis is not merely the result of an increase in head size, but involves distinct morphological changes in skull structure and the associated jaw adductor musculature.  © 2007 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2007, 91 , 111–119.     

Conspicuous blue tails,dorsal pattern morphs and escape behaviour in hatchling Iberian wall lizards (Podarcis hispanicus)

Predation has profound effects on the phenotypes of animal prey and, in lizards, the relationship between coloration and antipredatory behaviour has been studied in depth. However, studies that address the relationships between dorsal patterns and tail coloration with escape behaviour in polymorphic lizards are absent in the literature. We describe dorsal morphs and measured tail coloration and escape behaviour in hatchling Iberian wall lizards, Podarcis hispanicus, a species with a previously undescribed female‐restricted dorsal polymorphism (reticulated‐blotched males, and either striped or reticulated‐blotched females) and juvenile tails with conspicuous blue coloration, which is probably used to divert predator attacks towards the autotomizable tail. Overall we provide evidence for the existence of sexual dimorphism in tail ultraviolet reflectance between reticulated females and males, with striped females being intermediate. We identified sex/dorsal morph, body size and tail brightness as predictors of different aspects of escape behaviour and suggest the existence of two alternative escape strategies between striped and reticulated‐blotched females that may be dependent on dorsal morph differences, independently of sex. Reticulated‐blotched females, and also males (all reticulated‐blotched), ran faster and spent less time paused than striped females, which might reflect an escape behaviour strategy based on endurance in striped females. In addition, lowland males displayed tail waving as a ‘last resort’ antipredator strategy that may be related to fatigue. We concluded that hatchling antipredatory behaviour is influenced by both dorsal pattern and tail conspicuousness. © 2014 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2014, 113 , 1094–1106.     

Factors shaping the evolution of colour patterns in Australian agamid lizards (Agamidae): a comparative study

Identifying general patterns of adaptive coloration in animals can help to elucidate the evolutionary processes that generate them. We examined the evolution of colour patterns in Australian agamid lizards, a morphologically and ecologically diverse group that relies primarily on visual communication. We tested whether certain types of colour (yellow–reds and black) were likely to be used as sexual signals, as indicated by their association with indices of sexual selection, namely, sexual dichromatism and sexual dimorphism in body size and head shape. We then tested whether sexually dichromatic colours are associated with specific patterns (uniform, mottled, striped, blotched, reticulated) or ecological variables such as habitat openness, arboreality, and substrate type. The presence of yellow–red on lateral and ventral body regions and black on ventral body regions was significantly more common in males than females. Lateral yellow–red in males was associated with the total extent of sexual dichromatism and size dimorphism, whereas ventral yellow–red was associated with sexual dichromatism. Both lateral and ventral yellow–red were associated with uniform patterning, suggesting that sexual signals in male agamid lizards may often comprise uniform patches or flushes of yellow–red. Although ventral black coloration was more prevalent on males (i.e. strongly sexually dichromatic), it was not associated with indices of sexual selection, suggesting that, in agamid lizards, yellow–red coloration is more likely to be sexually selected than black. Sexually dichromatic coloration was not strongly associated with any of the ecological variables measured. We found some associations, however, between female dorsal patterns and ecological variables, suggesting that female patterns are influenced by natural selection. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2013, 109 , 101–112.     

Size dimorphism in Rankinia [Tympanocryptis] diemensis (Family Agamidae): sex-specific patterns and geographic variation

Sexual dimorphism has implications for a range of biological and ecological factors, and intersexual morphological differences within a species provide an ideal opportunity for investigating evolutionary influences on phenotypic variation. We investigated sexual size dimorphism (SSD) in an agamid species, Rankinia [Tympanocryptis] diemensis , to determine whether overall size and/or relative morphological trait size differences exist and whether geographic variation in size dimorphism occurs in this species. Relative morphological trait proportions included a range of head, limb, and inter-limb measurements. We found significant overall intersexual adult size differences; females were the larger sex across all sites but the degree of dimorphism between the sexes did not differ between sites. This female-biased size difference is atypical for agamid lizards, which are usually characterized by large male body size. In this species, large female-biased SSD appears to have evolved as a result of fecundity advantages. The size of relative morphological trait also differed significantly between the sexes, but in the opposite direction: relative head, tail, and limb sizes were significantly larger in males than females. This corresponds to patterns in trait size usually found in this taxonomic group, where male head and limb size is important in contest success such as male–male rivalry. There were site-specific morphological differences in hatchlings, including overall body size, tail, inter-limb, thigh, and hindlimb lengths; however, there were no sex-specific differences indicating the body size differences present in the adult form occur during ontogeny.  © 2008 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2008, 94 , 699–709.     

Sexual dichromatism and male colour morph in ultraviolet-B reflectance in two populations of the jumping spider Phintella vittata (Araneae: Salticidae) from tropical China

In the literature on animal use of ultraviolet (UV) vision and UV reflectance, it has usually been UV-A (315–400 nm) that is considered. Animals are generally assumed to be unable to discriminate UV-B (280–315 nm) from other wavelengths in natural sunlight. Recently, some animals are known to be able to detect and respond directly to UV-B in order to avoiding exposure to it. However, there is no evidence that the hue corresponding to UV-B is salient to an animal during intraspecies communication. Using Phintella vittata , an ornate jumping spider from two geographically different populations in China, we investigated geographical, intersexual, intrasexual, and interpopulation variation in UV reflectance. We found that both the males and the females of P. vittata reflect UV light, and that the reflection bands are located in UV-B, a part of reflectance spectrum never previously investigated. We also found a great deal of population variation in the UV-B spectral reflectance. Furthermore, two colour morphs, the 'green' and 'yellow' morphs, are identified for adult males for both populations, and both morphs differ greatly in both UV-B and human-visible wavelengths. This is the first demonstration of a UV-B reflecting salticid and UV-B sexual dichromatism.  © 2008 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2008, 94 , 7–20.     

Functional and ecological relevance of intraspecific variation in body size and shape in the lizard Podarcis melisellensis (Lacertidae)

Within populations, individual animals may vary considerably in morphology and ecology. The degree to which variation in morphology is related to ecological variation within a population remains largely unexplored. We investigated whether variation in body size and shape among sexes and age classes of the lizard Podarcis melisellensis translates in differential whole-animal performance (sprint speed, bite force), escape and prey attack behaviour in the field, microhabitat use and diet. Male and female adult lizards differed significantly in body size and head and limb proportions. These morphological differences were reflected in differences in bite strength, but not in sprint speed. Accordingly, field measurements of escape behaviour and prey attack speed did not differ between the sexes, but males ate larger, harder and faster prey than females. In addition to differences in body size, juveniles diverged from adults in relative limb and head dimensions. These shape differences may explain the relatively high sprint and bite capacities of juvenile lizards. Ontogenetic variation in morphology and performance is strongly reflected in the behaviour and ecology in the field, with juveniles differing from adults in aspects of their microhabitat use, escape behaviour and diet.  © 2008 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2008, 94 , 251–264.     

Does ‘gliding while gravid’ explain Rensch's rule in flying lizards?

Among species with sexual size dimorphism (SSD), taxa in which males are the larger sex have increasing SSD with increasing body size, whereas in taxa in which females are the larger sex, SSD decreases with body size: Rensch's rule. We show in flying lizards, a clade of mostly female‐larger species, that SSD increases with body size, a pattern similar to that in clades with male‐biased SSD or more evenly mixed SSD. The observed pattern in Draco appears due to SSD increasing with evolutionary changes in male body size; specifically divergence in body size among species that are in sympatric congeneric assemblages. We suggest that increasing body size, resulting in decreased gliding performance, reduces the relative gliding cost of gravidity in females, and switches sexual selection in males away from a small‐male, gliding advantage and toward selection on large size and fighting ability as seen in many other lizards. Thus, selection for large females is likely greater than selection for large males at the smaller end of the body size continuum, whereas this relationship reverses for species at the larger end of the continuum. © 2014 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2014, 113 , 270–282.     

Extreme ultraviolet sexual dimorphism in jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae)

Jumping spiders (Salticidae) have acute vision with some cells in the retina that are sensitive to ultraviolet (UV) spectra (< 400 nm). However, no study has documented the use of UV signals in salticids. To appreciate the function of UV vision, it is necessary to characterize the UV colours of salticids. In the present study, the UV and human-visible wavelengths of a tropical ornate salticid spider, Cosmophasis umbratica , were analysed using reflectance spectrometry to obtain evidence of sex-specific UV colours. An absolute sexual dimorphism in the UV colours of this salticid species was found. All of the body parts of adult males that are displayed to conspecifics during intra-specific interactions reflected UV (300–400 nm) light, whereas the adult females and juveniles did not reflect UV light from any body part. A great deal of variation was also found in the UV wavebands among males. This is the first full UV characterization of a salticid spider and the first study to demonstrate an extreme sexual UV dimorphism in jumping spiders. The findings obtained provide evidence that UV reflectance may comprise important sexual signals in jumping spiders.  © 2006 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2006, 89 , 397–406.     

Sexual dimorphism of heads and abdomens: Different approaches to ‘being large’ in female and male lizards

Sexual‐size dimorphism (SSD) is widespread in animals. Body length is the most common trait used in the study of SSD in reptiles. However, body length combines lengths of different body parts, notably heads and abdomens. Focusing on body length ignores possible differential selection pressures on such body parts. We collected the head and abdomen lengths of 610 lizard species (Reptilia: Squamata: Sauria). Across species, males have relatively larger heads, whereas females have relatively larger abdomens. This consistent difference points to body length being an imperfect measure of lizard SSD because it comprises both abdomen and head lengths, which often differ between the sexes. We infer that female lizards of many species are under fecundity selection to increase abdomen size, consequently enhancing their reproductive output (enlarging either clutch or offspring size). In support of this, abdomens of lizards laying large clutches are longer than those of lizards with small clutches. In some analyses, viviparous lizards have longer abdomens than oviparous lizards with similar head lengths. Our data also suggest that male lizards are under sexual selection to increase head size, which is positively related to winning male–male combats and to faster grasping of females. Thus, larger heads could translate into higher probability to mate. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2013, 110 , 665–673.     

Sexual size dimorphism and sex ratios in dragonflies (Odonata)

Sexual size dimorphism and biased sex ratios are common in animals. Rensch's rule states that sexual size dimorphism (SSD) would increase with body size in taxa where males are larger than females and decrease with body size in taxa where females are larger. We tested this trend in dragonflies (Odonata) by analysing body size of 21 species and found support for Rensch's rule. The increase in SSD with increasing size among species can be explained by sexual selection favouring large males. We also estimated the slope of the relationship between sex ratio and size ratio in populations of the 21 species. A negative slope would suggest that the larger sex suffers from high mortality in the larval stage, consistent with riskier foraging. The slope of this relationship was negative, but after correcting for phylogentic non-independence with independent contrasts the relationship was no longer statistically significant, perhaps because of phylogenic inertia or low sample size.  © 2005 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2005, 86 , 507–513.     

Conspicuousness of Dickerson's collared lizard (Crotaphytus dickersonae) through the eyes of conspecifics and predators

Selection should favour coloration in organisms that is more conspicuous to their own visual system than to those of their predators or prey. We tested this prediction in Dickerson's collared lizard ( Crotaphytus dickersonae ), a sexually dichromatic desert reptile that preys on insects and smaller lizard species, and which in turn is prey for birds and snakes. We modelled the spectral sensitivities of the lizards and their avian and snake predators, and compared the conspicuousness of the lizards' entire colour patterns with each class of viewers. Almost all comparisons involving females strongly supported our prediction for greater chromatic and brightness conspicuousness against local terrestrial visual backgrounds to their own modelled visual system than to those of avian and snake predators. Males, in contrast, exhibited far fewer cases of greater conspicuousness to their own visual system than to those of their predators. Our own perception of spectral similarity between blue C. dickersonae males and a local nonterrestrial visual background (i.e. the Sea of Cortéz) prompted a further investigation. We compared sea (and sky) radiance with dorsum radiance of C. dickersonae males and with males from two distantly-related Crotaphytus collaris populations in which males possess blue bodies. In all three visual models, C. dickersonae males exhibited significantly lower chromatic contrast with the sea (and sky) than did their noncoastal, blue-bodied congeners. Among potential explanations, the blue body coloration that is unique to male C. dickersonae may offset, if only slightly, the cost of visibility to predators (and to prey) through reduced contrast against the extensive, local, nonterrestrial blue backgrounds of the sea and sky.  © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2009, 97 , 749–765.     

Ontogenetically stable dimorphism in a lacertid lizard (Acanthodactylus boskianus) with tests of methodology and comments on life-history

Recent arguments in the literature prompted us to compare methods for assessing sexual dimorphism in body proportions of lacertid lizards, using Acanthodactylus boskianus . Although expressing body-part measurements as proportional to head length was the most effective method, we recommend using trunk length for the baseline as a general method for lizards. We also argue that, when aiming to assess sexual dimorphism in body proportions of lizards, if the context is ecological, all available adults should be included. However, for morphology and taxonomy, small sub-samples of the largest individuals that maximally express their genetic morphological potential should be used. In A. boskianus , the sexual dimorphism of mensural characters in adults was typical: males were larger, with relatively larger head and appendages. However, the ontogeny of this dimorphism was unusual in that the differences existed already in youth and thereafter persisted isometrically. The sexual dimorphism of meristic characters was male-biased in numbers of femoral pores and of caudal vertebrae, and female-biased in numbers of ventral plates along the trunk and of precaudal vertebrae. Size dimorphism may conceivably play a role in sex recognition because two potential visual cues (i.e. size dimorphism and dichromatism) appear to complement each other.  © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 2009, 97 , 275–288.     

Spatial and temporal variation in flight morphology in the butterfly Melitaea cinxia (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)

Some studies on insects have found a relationship between habitat structure and investment in dispersal-related traits. In this study we compared the morphology of the butterfly Melitaea cinxia from five sites on the large Baltic island Öland that differed markedly in degree of fragmentation and size. Both wild-caught adults and individuals reared in a split-plot design were compared. We found significant site differences in size-adjusted thorax mass and total body mass. Male thorax mass was on average larger among the sites with the highest degree of habitat fragmentation. However, due to significant sex–site interactions, males and females may have adapted differently to the habitat fragmentation. Using museum specimens, we also analysed changes in morphology, finding an increase in size (measured as head and thorax width) over time. Thorax width appears to have increased among females and decreased among males. Possible explanations include increasing fragmentation of the landscape and changes in population density.  © 2002 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2002, 77 , 445–453.     

Seasonal variation in genital and body size, sperm displacement ability, female mating rate, and male harassment in two calopterygid damselflies (Odonata: Calopterygidae)

Sperm competition is a pervasive force. One adaptation is the male ability to displace the rivals' sperm that females have stored from previous copulations. In the damselfly, Calopteryx haemorrhoidalis asturica , males with wider aedeagi displace more spermathecal sperm. The present study documents that the same mechanism operates in another damselfly, Hetaerina americana . However, this genital width in both species decreases along the season, but late-emerging females have more sperm displaced than early-emerging females. Because territorial males mated more and were larger in body and genital size than nonterritorial males, late-season females mated with considerably larger males with respect to female size and this produced higher sperm displacement. Assuming female benefits from storing sperm but that such benefit does not prevail if males displace sperm, it is predicted that, along the season, females will mate less and male harassment (in terms of male mating attempts and oviposition duration) will increase. These predictions were corroborated. In H. americana , it was also tested whether spermathecal sperm became less viable along the season. The results obtained did not corroborate this. This is the first evidence indicating that season affects sperm displacement ability and female mating frequency due to changes in male body and genital size.  © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2009, 96 , 815–829.     

Females show greater changes in wing colour with latitude than males in the green‐veined white butterfly,Pieris napi (Lepidoptera: Pieridae)

In butterflies, wing colour may simultaneously be under sexual selection in the context of mating selection and natural selection in the context of thermoregulation. In the present study, we collected mated females of the green‐veined white butterfly (Pieris napi) from locations spanning 960 km of latitude across Fennoscandia, and investigated sex‐specific latitudinal wing colour variation in their offspring raised under identical conditions. We measured wing colour characteristics, including reflectance at wavelengths 300–700 nm and the degree of wing melanization. At all latitudes, females reflected more light in the short wavelengths (< 400 nm) and less in the long wavelengths (> 450 nm), and they were more melanized than males. However, female wing colour varied more with latitude than that of males. Among females, long wavelength reflectance decreased, whereas short wavelength reflectance and melanization increased, towards the north. By contrast, among males, latitudinal variation was found only in the ventral hindwing melanization. These results are consistent with the idea that the balance between natural and sexual selection acting on wing colour changes with latitude differently in males than females. The dark wing colour of females in the north may be a thermoregulatory adaptation, although males may be constrained from evolving the dark dorsal wing colour favoured by natural selection because of constant sexual selection across latitudes. © 2012 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2012, ?? , ??–??.     

Sex-dependent effects of sibling cannibalism on life history traits of the ladybird beetle Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)

To investigate the sex-dependent effects of sibling cannibalism on variations in life history traits, I analysed body size, weight and instar interval in relation to the occurrence of sibling cannibalism in the ladybird beetle Harmonia axyridis. Sibling cannibalism at the time of hatching significantly affected the body size and weight of adults. There was a 2.32% and 1.05% increase in the body size of males and females, respectively, and a 3.55% increase and a 2.30% decrease in their respective body weights. Sibling cannibalism also significantly shortened the total and larval instar intervals, by 4.24% in males and by 1.22% in females, mainly due to shortening of the first instar. These results suggest that the effects of sibling cannibalism on life history traits are sex-differentiated and are greater in males than in females. A simulation of aphid density indicated that shortening the instar interval affected larval survival; the aphid density when the larvae completed development was 39.71% and 10.52% larger for cannibalistic males and females, respectively, than for non-cannibals. These results suggest that sibling cannibalism promotes more rapid development and larger adult size, although the effect was more pronounced in males than in females. Faster development may be adaptive for resource tracking, and the large adult size may increase fecundity in females and mating success in males through female mate choice, both resulting in an increase in the fitness of cannibals.  © 2002 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2002, 76 , 349–360.     

UV-deprived coloration reduces success in mate acquisition in male sand lizards (Lacerta agilis)

Background

Recent work on animal signals has revealed a wide occurrence of UV signals in tetrapods, in particular birds, but also in lizards (and perhaps other Squamate reptiles). Our previous work on the Swedish sand lizard (Lacerta agilis) has verified, both in correlative selection analyses in the wild and with laboratory and field experiments, the importance of the green ‘badge’ on the body sides of adult males for securing mating opportunities, probably mostly through deterring rival males rather than attracting females. The role of UV in communication has, however, never been examined.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Here we show that when measured immediately after spring skin shedding, there is also signaling in the UV. By UV-depriving the signal (reflectance) with sun block chemicals fixated with permeable, harmless spray dressing, we show that males in the control group (spray dressing only) had significantly higher success in mate acquisition than UV-deprived males.

Conclusions/Significance

These results suggest that at least two colour traits in sand lizards, badge area and UV, contribute to rival deterrence and/or female choice on UV characters, which elevates success in mate acquisition in UV intact male sand lizards.