TY - JOUR
T1 - Female preference for sympatric vs. allopatric male throat color morphs in the mesquite lizard (Sceloporus grammicus) species complex
AU - Bastiaans, Elizabeth
AU - Bastiaans, Mary Jane
AU - Morinaga, Gen
AU - Castañeda Gaytán, José Gamaliel
AU - Marshall, Jonathon C.
AU - Bane, Brendan
AU - Méndez De La Cruz, Fausto
AU - Sinervo, Barry
PY - 2014/4/9
Y1 - 2014/4/9
N2 - Color polymorphic sexual signals are often associated with alternative reproductive behaviors within populations, and the number, frequency, or type of morphs present often vary among populations. When these differences lead to assortative mating by population, the study of such polymorphic taxa may shed light on speciation mechanisms. We studied two populations of a lizard with polymorphic throat color, an important sexual signal. Males in one population exhibit orange, yellow, or blue throats; whereas males in the other exhibit orange, yellow, or white throats. We assessed female behavior when choosing between allopatric and sympatric males. We asked whether females discriminated more when the allopatric male was of an unfamiliar morph than when the allopatric male was similar in coloration to the sympatric male. We found that female rejection of allopatric males relative to sympatric males was more pronounced when males in a pair were more different in throat color. Our findings may help illuminate how behavioral responses to color morph differences between populations with polymorphic sexual signals contribute to reproductive isolation.
AB - Color polymorphic sexual signals are often associated with alternative reproductive behaviors within populations, and the number, frequency, or type of morphs present often vary among populations. When these differences lead to assortative mating by population, the study of such polymorphic taxa may shed light on speciation mechanisms. We studied two populations of a lizard with polymorphic throat color, an important sexual signal. Males in one population exhibit orange, yellow, or blue throats; whereas males in the other exhibit orange, yellow, or white throats. We assessed female behavior when choosing between allopatric and sympatric males. We asked whether females discriminated more when the allopatric male was of an unfamiliar morph than when the allopatric male was similar in coloration to the sympatric male. We found that female rejection of allopatric males relative to sympatric males was more pronounced when males in a pair were more different in throat color. Our findings may help illuminate how behavioral responses to color morph differences between populations with polymorphic sexual signals contribute to reproductive isolation.
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U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0093197
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0093197
M3 - Article
C2 - 24718297
AN - SCOPUS:84899572156
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 9
JO - PloS one
JF - PloS one
IS - 4
M1 - e93197
ER -