Meeting Abstract
Male green anole lizards, Anolis carolinensis, use visual displays, often involving aggressive behavior, in intrasexual interactions. Communication of agonistic messages can be mediated by changes in body coloration due to a stress response. Aggressive behavior can be reduced through social habituation with conspecifics, but the role of stress hormones and their effects on body coloration are unknown. We examined the effects of social habituation in male A. carolinensis with respect to stress hormone levels and body coloration. For two weeks, we allowed randomly paired male A. carolinensis to interact for 10 minutes with a 1-day interval between each trial. In week three, we paired individuals with a novel male and repeated the interactions. We collected fecal samples to measure corticosterone levels and recorded body coloration before and after interactions. Prolonged social interaction led to increased corticosterone levels and an overall increase in brown coloration frequency. Although there was no significant correlation between body coloration and corticosterone levels in the initial 2-week period, a close relationship became evident during the third week. Therefore, social habituation may not be mediated by differences in stress levels among subordinate/dominant relationships, and body coloration may instead depend on acute and chronic stress conditions.
