Territory acquisition in a polymorphic lizard: An experimental approach

Males of the colour polymorphic Australian painted dragon lizard Ctenophorus pictus occur in red or yellow head colouration. In a previous experiment, we showed that red is associated with a higher probability of winning staged contests for resources (females or space) and that manipulation of male colouration by painting males in the opposing morph changed the dynamics of staged interactions by prolonging them 30‐fold. Thus, colour is linked to behavioural differences between males and is involved in information transfer between competing males. This inherent red dominance could result in yellow males being marginalized to poorer quality territories in terms of access to females, food, perch sites or shade. With an experiment in the wild, we test to what extent this prediction is upheld, and how colour manipulation affects morph‐specific success in territory acquisition when male body size, territory quality and emergence time from hibernation are controlled through manipulation or randomization. There was no significant effect of colour category per se, although on average red males remained closer to the release sites (our proxy for territory acquisition ability) than yellow males and artificially altered morphs moved the furthest away. There was a significant interaction effect between colour category and experimental release position, which may be linked to differences in how exposed (or not) these positions were and morph‐specific ability to cope with such exposure (e.g. ‘boldness’). Our data show that territory acquisition success is not merely a function of competitive ability but a composite outcome of a suite of factors, including signal perception.