Meeting Abstract

P1.101  Sunday, Jan. 4  Visual Laterality and Sexual Asymmetry of Signal Detection in Sceloporus undulatus lizards MORENO, L*; NAVA, S.S.; WANG, D.; MARTINS, E.P.; Indiana University and the Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior, Bloomington lorna.moreno@gmail.com

Visual signal properties often vary greatly between and within individuals in a variety of social contexts. For example, in many species of lizards, males produce different complex motion displays used in territorial and courtship contexts. While it is widely known that visual signals emitted by senders can exhibit great variation in efficacy and design, far less is understood whether and how receivers vary in the ability to detect and respond to different complex signals. We tested for variation of signal detection within and between receivers. Specifically, we tested whether Sceloporus undulatus lizards exhibit differential signal detection between the left and right visual fields, a phenomenon known as visual laterality. Additionally, we tested whether male and female S. undulatus lizards differ in their ability to detect two types of motion signals displayed by males: courtship and territorial. Using a robotic lizard model, we assayed visual performance from each visual field and each sex by measuring the latency to detect the two male display types. While signal efficacy can greatly depend on the receivers ability to detect and respond to a senders signals, variation both within and between different receivers can affect the direction of signal evolution. We found that the left and right visual fields of both males and females differ in detection performance for both display types. Detailed results and data will be presented. Our findings suggest that sexual asymmetry and laterality of visual ability may play an important role in the evolution of visual communication systems and should be taken into consideration when studying signal design and efficacy.