Does Dewlap Size Predict Male Bite Performance in Jamaican Anolis Lizards?

• Published in: Functional ecology 2005-02, Vol.19 (1), p.38-42
• Main Authors: Vanhooydonck, B., Herrel, A. Y., Van Damme, R., Irschick, D. J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal behavior; Animal morphology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Anolis grahami; Anolis lineatopus; Anolis valencienni; Autoecology; Biological and medical sciences; Bite force; Ecological competition; Ecological genetics; Ecology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Honest signalling; Human ecology; Lacertilia; Lizards; Male animals; Secondary traits; sexual selection
• ISSN: 0269-8463; 1365-2435
• DOI: 10.1111/j.0269-8463.2005.00940.x

1. The theory of the evolution of secondary sexual traits through male-male competition is based on the assumption that these traits are reliable cues for an animal's fighting capacity. In this paper, we test whether a secondary sexual trait, dewlap size, is an honest predictor of bite strength in Anolis lizards. Since male anoles will bite one another during territorial fights, bite performance may play an important role in determining the outcome of male-male fights. 2. We measured dewlap size and bite force in a size series of adult males of three Jamaican anoles, i.e. Anolis grahami Gray 1845, A. lineatopus Gray 1840 and A. valencienni Duméril & Bibron 1837. 3. In both A. grahami and A. lineatopus, males with relatively large dewlaps tend to bite relatively harder, while the relationship between relative dewlap size and bite force was clearly non-significant within the twig anole A. valencienni. 4. Our results thus suggest that dewlap size is an indicator of relative bite force in the former two species, but not in the latter. We argue that interspecific variation in territorial behaviour might explain this difference.