The Influence of Incubation Conditions and Sex on Growth and Dispersal in Hatchling Lizards

Dispersal is a critical process that has profound influence on ecological and evolutionary processes. Many proximate factors influence natal dispersal, but it is currently unclear whether the conditions experienced during incubation play an important role. We manipulated incubation temperature and used mark–recapture of released hatchlings to test this hypothesis. We tested this hypothesis on the prairie lizard (Sceloporus consobrinus) using two experimental islands in a local reservoir. Incubation conditions influenced some aspects of hatchling morphology, but had little influence on the probability of dispersal. As generally predicted for a polygynous species, males were more likely to disperse than females; however, the growth rate of dispersing vs. resident individuals varied depending on sex. Dispersive male lizards did not grow faster than resident males, whereas female dispersers grew significantly slower than resident females. Although our study was not specifically designed to test for differential costs of dispersal for males and females, this pattern is consistent with recent research demonstrating sex‐specific fitness costs of dispersal.