Meeting Abstract
Sex-linked ornamentation is commonly found in many species, and is often a signal of an individual’s fitness. Blue badges on the abdomen and throat are a characteristic male-typical ornamentation of the eastern fence lizard, Sceloporus undulatus. Smaller, less intense badges are also sometimes seen on female fence lizards, and their presence is associated with reproductive costs. Some populations of fence lizards exhibit a high prevalence of this female ornamentation, indicating that there should be some advantage to maintaining these badges in certain areas. One such advantage may be improved immune function for the females or their offspring. In this study we assessed the badge size and color saturation of adult female fence lizards, and measured the cell-mediated immune function of their offspring with the phytohemagglutinin skin test. The size and color saturation of maternal badges is associated with differences in offspring immunity, but the impact appears to be greater for male offspring. Our results indicate the potential for an important fitness advantage to females exhibiting male-typical badges, but that this advantages differs somewhat between sons and daughters. This immune up-regulation may be especially important in populations faced with predatory fire ants that frequently cause non-lethal skin wounds; areas in which female ornamentation is more prevalent.
