A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Behavioral threat and appeasement signals take precedence over static colors in lizard contests
Authors: Abalos, Javier; de Lanuza, Guillem; Bartolome, Alicia; Liehrmann, Oceane; Aubret, Fabien; Font, Enrique
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publishing place: CARY
Publication year: 2024
Journal: Behavioral Ecology
Journal name in source: BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY
Journal acronym: BEHAV ECOL
Article number: arae045
Volume: 35
Issue: 4
Number of pages: 19
ISSN: 1045-2249
eISSN: 1465-7279
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arae045
Web address : https://academic.oup.com/beheco/article/35/4/arae045/7688221
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/457255513
The interplay between morphological (structures) and behavioral (acts) signals in contest assessment is still poorly understood. During contests, males of the common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis) display both morphological (i.e. static color patches) and behavioral (i.e. raised-body display, foot shakes) traits. We set out to evaluate the role of these putative signals in determining the outcome and intensity of contests by recording agonistic behavior in ten mesocosm enclosures. We find that contests are typically won by males with relatively more black coloration, which are also more aggressive. However, black coloration does not seem to play a role in rival assessment, and behavioral traits are stronger predictors of contest outcome and winner aggression than prior experience, morphology, and coloration. Contest intensity is mainly driven by resource- and self-assessment, with males probably using behavioral threat (raised-body displays) and de-escalation signals (foot shakes) to communicate their willingness to engage/persist in a fight. Our results agree with the view that agonistic signals used during contests are not associated with mutual evaluation of developmentally-fixed attributes, and instead animals monitor each other to ensure that their motivation is matched by their rival. We emphasize the importance of testing the effect of signals on receiver behavior and discuss that social recognition in territorial species may select receivers to neglect potential morphological signals conveying static information on sex, age, or intrinsic quality.Behavioral signals outweigh static color patches in determining the winner of territorial disputes. To understand what limits aggression in wall lizards, we recorded social behavior in 10 experimental enclosures. We found that raised-body displays and foot shakes are better predictors of contest outcome than color patches, possibly because lizards use dynamic threat and de-escalation signals to communicate their motivation to engage/persist in a fight, while coloration conveys more general information about sex, age, and quality.
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Funding information in the publication:
This work was supported by grants from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (grants numbers FPU FPU15/01388 and Margarita Salas MS21-053 to J.A., FPU18/04021 to A.B., Juan de la Cierva-Incorporación IJC2018-035319-I to G.P.L., and PID2019-104721GB-I00 to G.P.L. and E.F.), the Generalitat Valenciana (AICO/2021/113 to E.F. and G.P.L.), FEDER through the COMPETE program (ref. 008929), and Portuguese National Funds (FCT project PTDC/BIA-EVL/30288/2017-NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-30288 to GPL), the Laboratoire d’Excellence (LABEX) TULIP (ANR-10-LABX-41), and the INTERREG POCTEFA project ECTOPYR (EFA031/15). This work has also benefitted from state aid managed by the French national research agency under the Future Investments Programme bearing the reference ANR-11- INBS-0001AnaEE-Services.
