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Conspecifics as cues: A mechanism for habitat selection in the Panamanian grass anole (Anolis auratus)

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Summary

In an experimental choice situation, individuals of both sexes of the lizard Anolis auratus choose to associate with a conspecific individual regardless of its sex. Further, individuals of both sexes associate with an individual of A. tropidogaster, a related species. Given the choice between the two species, they choose their own. Given the choice between a conspecific and a small patch of natural habitat, they do not choose one or the other consistently. These experiments indicate that conspecific association does not function just as a mate selection mechanism as has been previously proposed. The initial association may, in addition, serve a habitat selection function. Conspecifics can thus be seen as cues indicating the presence of suitable habitat as well as being important biological factors in themselves.

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Author notes

  1. A. Ross Kiester

    Present address: Department of Biology, University of Chicago, 1103 E. 57th St., 60637, Chicago, Illinois, USA

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  1. Museum of Comparative Zoology and Society of Fellows, Harvard University, 02138, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

    A. Ross Kiester

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  1. A. Ross Kiester
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Kiester, A.R. Conspecifics as cues: A mechanism for habitat selection in the Panamanian grass anole (Anolis auratus). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 5, 323–330 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00292522

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00292522

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