ArticleDie Naturwissenschaften2013
Colorful displays signal male quality in a tropical anole lizard.
Article in Die Naturwissenschaften, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- Dialogues in colour and behaviour: integration of complex signalling traits and physiology.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2025Article
- Ornaments indicate parasite load only if they are dynamic or parasites are contagious.Evolution letters · 2023Article
- Dewlap colour variation in Anolis sagrei is maintained among habitats within islands of the West Indies.Journal of evolutionary biology · 2022Article
- Patterns of variations in dorsal colouration of the Italian wall lizard Podarcis siculus.Biology open · 2021Article
- Ectoparasite extinction in simplified lizard assemblages during experimental island invasion.Biology letters · 2020Article
- Plastic sexual ornaments: Assessing temperature effects on color metrics in a color-changing reptile.PloS one · 2020Article
- A novel body coloration phenotype in Anolis sagrei: Implications for physiology, fitness, and predation.PloS one · 2018Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
Parasites influence colorful ornaments and their behavioral display in many animal hosts. Because coloration and display behavior are often critical components of communication, variation in these traits may have important implications for individual fitness, yet it remains unclear whether such traits are signals of quality in many taxa. We investigated the association between ectoparasitic mite load and the color and behavioral use of the throat fan (dewlap) by male Anolis brevirostris lizards. We found that heavily parasitized lizards exhibited lower body condition, duller dewlaps, and less frequent dewlap displays than less parasitized individuals. Our results thus suggest that highly parasitized individuals invest less in both ornamental color and behavioral display of that color. Because the two components of the signal simultaneously provide information on male quality, this study provides novel support for the long-standing hypothesis that colorful traits may function as social or sexual signals in reptiles.
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Registered trials
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