Correlates of reproductive success in male lizards of the alpine species Iberolacerta cyreni

We followed a field population of the alpine lizard Iberolacertacyreni over 2 consecutive breeding seasons and assigned paternityto the offpring using 8 microsatellite markers. Paternity data,combined with observations of the behavior, morphology, andspacing patterns of lizards, allowed us to document the extentof polygamy, the phenotypic correlates of the number of offspringsired, and the correlation between male reproductive success(RS) and probability of recapture the second year of our study.Multiple paternity was observed in nearly 50% of clutches, andthe mating system was highly polygynandrous. In the first yearof our study, male RS increased with body size, activity, taillength, and color saturation of the dorsum. In the second year,male RS increased with activity and body condition. Overall,increased male activity, a trait that is expected to decreasesurvivorship, was the explanatory variable that had the greatesteffect on RS. However, the residents of our first study yearthat were recaptured in the second year had longer tails, weremore active, and sired more offspring than their conspecificsthat were not recaptured. Thus, contrary to expectations, nonegative correlation between present reproduction and futuresurvival was found, which suggests that male investment in reproductionis condition dependent and positively correlated with the abilityto pay the underlying costs of increased activity.