Meeting Abstract

53.4  Saturday, Jan. 5  Sexual signals, performance, and testosterone in Bahamian Anolis lizards HUSAK, J.F.*; IRSCHICK, D.J.; MEYERS, J.J.; MOORE, I.T.; Univ. of Massachusetts; Univ. of Massachusetts; Univ. of Massachusetts; Virginia Tech husak@bio.umass.edu

Sexual signals often convey information about male �quality� to rivals. As an example, the size of male throat fans (dewlaps) in territorial Caribbean Anolis lizards is a strong predictor of bite-force capacity, both of which may be important during male contests. Evidence suggests that the link between dewlap size and bite-force capacity may be mediated via testosterone, but the generality of this relationship remains unclear. We studied four species of Bahamian anoles that differ in mating system and degree of territoriality, as well as in their habitat use (i.e., ecomorph): a twig anole (Anolis angusticeps), a trunk-crown anole (Anolis smargdinus), a trunk anole (Anolis distichus), and a trunk-ground anole (Anolis sagrei). Previous work has shown that A. distichus and A. angusticeps are less territorial compared to A. smargdinus and A. sagrei. Furthermore, while dewlap size is a predictor of dominance in A. distichus and A. angusticeps, dewlap size is not an honest signal of bite force in those species. We compare testosterone levels among the four species in relationship to their mating systems and social organization and explore whether testosterone mediates the connection between bite-force capacity and dewlap size in sexually mature males of all four species.