Meeting Abstract
Conspicuous sexual ornaments are uncommon in females of species with traditional sex roles, with such occurrences often attributed to genetic linkage of a trait selected for in males. In eastern fence lizards, males display colorful ornaments that are sexually selected, but any condition-dependent traits associated with ornament quality are unknown. Females may exhibit rudimentary ornamentation that carries reproductive costs, but it is unclear whether they display honest condition signaling as well. To investigate a potential adaptive role for female ornamentation in fence lizards, we used individuals from three populations to determine the relationship between ornament quality and typical condition-dependent traits in both sexes, while accounting for the effect of hormones normally associated with ornament development. In accordance with previous studies, we detected a strong relationship between testosterone levels during a specific developmental window and ornament quality at maturity. Ornament size and saturation were significantly correlated with body condition and immune response in males and therefore might signal individual quality, but these relationships were weaker or absent in females. It appears that ornament development in females is still sensitive, albeit more weakly, to androgen levels and condition-dependent traits. It is not known whether females employ this costly trait in intraspecific signaling, and thus its presence might indicate a scenario of intralocus sexual conflict. We speculate that females have largely reduced the energetic costs of ornaments by eliminating melanin deposition in these traits, while costs for iridophore production are not sufficiently high to drive females towards full sexual dimorphism.
