Abstract
Many lizard species use lateral compressions of the body during agonistic encounters. I investigated the signal value of the frequency at which these displays are presented and how that rate is affected by familiarity and threat. The response of resident collared lizards (Crotaphytus collaris) to tethered strangers, neighbors on the correct boundary, and neighbors displaced to the opposite boundary, was recorded by counting the number of lateral displays directed at the intruder and the number of subsequent acts of escalated aggression. There was no relationship between size asymmetry of the opponent and the rate of lateral display or aggression, nor was there a relationship between body size and the rate of lateral display or aggression. However, there was a high positive correlation between lateral display rate and aggression, suggesting that the rate of lateral displays is a conventional signal of motivation to attack. The highest rates of display and aggression were directed toward displaced neighbors, somewhat less toward strangers, and the least toward neighbors at the correct boundary. The ratio of aggressive acts to lateral displays followed the same pattern, presumably because the perceived threat to the resident decreases in the same order. Taken together these data suggest that collared lizards are able to assess the threat of an opponent and signal motivation to respond aggressively towards that opponent.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baird TA, Sloan CL, Timanus DK (2001) Intra- and inter-seasonal variation in the socio-spatial behavior of adult male collared lizards, Crotaphytus collaris (Reptilia, Crotaphytidae). Ethology 107:15–32
Baird TA, Timanus DK, Sloan CL (2003) Intra- and Intersexual variation in social behavior: effects of ontogeny, phenotype, resources, and season. In: Fox SF, McCoy JK, Baird TA (eds) Lizard social behavior. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md., pp 7–46
Bee MA, Perrill SA, Owen P C (1999) Size assessment in simulated territorial encounters between male green frogs (Rana clamitans). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 45:177–184
Brandt Y (2003) Lizard threat display handicaps endurance. Proc R Soc Lond B. 270:1061–1068
Carpenter CC (1978) Ritualistic social behaviors of iguanid lizards. In: Greenberg N, MacLean PD (eds) Neurology and behavior of lizards: an interdisciplinary colloquium. National Institute of Mental Health, Rockville, Md., pp 253–267
Carpenter CC Ferguson GW (1977) Variation and evolution of stereotyped behavior in reptiles. In: Gans C, Tinkle DW (eds) Biology of the reptilia, vol 7. Academic Press, London, pp 335–554
Clutton-Brock TH, Albon SD (1979) The roaring of red deer and the evolution of honest advertisement. Behaviour 69:145-170
Davies NB, Halliday TR (1978) Deep croaks and fighting assessment in toads Bufo bufo. Nature 274:683–685
Enquist M (1985) Communication during aggressive interactions with particular reference to variation in choice of behaviour. Anim Behav 33:1152–1161
Enquist M, Leimar L (1983) Evolution of fighting behaviour: decision rules and assessment of relative strength. J Theor Biol 102:387–410
Fisher J (1954) Evolution and bird sociality. In: Huxley J, Hardy AC, Ford EB (eds) Evolution as a process. George Allen & Unwin, London, pp 71–83
Fisher M, Muth A (1989) A technique for permanently marking lizards. Herpetol Rev 20:45–46
Fitch HS (1956) An ecological study of the collared lizard (Crotaphytus collaris). Univ Kans Publ Mus Nat Hist 8:213–274
Fox SF, Baird TA (1992) The dear enemy phenomenon in the collared lizard, Crotaphytus collaris, with a cautionary note on experimental methodology. Anim Behav 44:780–782
Hughes M (1996) Size assessment via a visual signal in snapping shrimp. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 38:51–57
Huntingford FA, Turner AK (1987) Animal conflict. Chapman and Hall, London
Huntingford FA, Turner AK, Sneddon L, Neat FC (2000) Prowess and the resolution of animal fights. In: Epsmark Y, Amundsen T, Rosenqvist G (eds) Animal signals: signalling and signal design in animal communication. Tapir, Trondheim, Norway, pp 415–427
Hurd PL (1997) Cooperative signalling between opponents in fish fights. Anim Behav 54:1309–1315
Husak JF, Fox SF (2003) Adult male collared lizards, Crotaphytus collaris, increase aggression towards displaced neighbours. Anim Behav 65:391–396.
Jaeger RG (1981) Dear enemy recognition and the costs of aggression between salamanders. Am Nat 117:962–974
Jenssen TA, Orrell KS, Lovern MB (2000) Sexual dimorphism in aggressive signal structure and use by a polygynous lizard, Anolis carolinensis. Copeia 2000:140–149
Johnstone RA (1995) Sexual selection, honest advertisement and the handicap principle: reviewing the evidence. Biol Rev 70:1–65
Kuehl RO (2000) Design of experiments: statistical principles of research design and analysis. Duxbury, Pacific Grove, Calif.
Marden JH, Rollins RA (1994) Assessment of energy reserves by damselflies engaged in aerial contests for mating territories. Anim Behav 48:1023–1030
Maynard Smith J, Parker GA (1976) The logic of asymmetric contests. Anim Behav 24:159–175
Molina-Borja M., Padron-Fumero M, Alfonso-Martin T (1998) Morphological and behavioural traits affecting the intensity and outcome of male contests in Gallotia galloti galloti (Family Lacertidae). Ethology 104:314–322
Molles LE, Vehrencamp SL (2001) Songbird cheaters pay a retaliation cost: evidence for auditory conventional signals. Proc R Soc Lond B 268:2013–2019
Olsson M (1992) Contest success in relation to size and residency in male sand lizards, Lacerta agilis. Anim Behav 44:386–388
Olsson M (1994) Nuptial coloration in the sand lizard, Lacerta agilis: an intra-sexually selected cue to fighting ability. Anim Behav 48:607–613
Rice WR (1989) Analyzing tables of statistical tests. Evolution 43:223–225
SAS Institute (1999) SAS OnlineDoc, version 8. SAS Institute, Cary, N.C.
Senar JC (1990) Agonistic communication in social species: what is communicated? Behaviour 112:3–4
Stone PA, Baird TA (2002) Estimating lizard home range: the Rose model revisited. J Herpetol 36:427–436
Temeles EJ (1994) The role of neighbours in territorial systems: when are they ‘dear enemies’? Anim Behav 47:339–350
Uzee EM (1990) The effects of thermal constraints on the daily activity of Crotaphytus collaris. MS Thesis, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Okla.
van Rhijn JG, Vodegel R (1980) Being honest about one’s intentions: an evolutionary stable strategy for animal contests. J Theor Biol 85:623–641
Vehrencamp SL (2000) Handicap, index, and conventional signal elements of bird song. In: Espmark Y, Amundsen T, Rosenqvist G (eds) Animal signals: signalling and signal design in animal communication. Tapir, Trondheim, Norway, pp 277–300
Vehrencamp SL (2001) Is song-type matching a conventional signal of aggressive intentions? Proc R Soc Lond B 268:1637–1642
Wagner WE (1992) Deceptive or honest signalling of fighting ability? A test of alternative hypotheses for the function of changes in call dominant frequency by male cricket frogs. Anim Behav 44:449–462
Ydenberg RC, Giraldeau LA, Falls JB (1988) Neighbours, strangers, and the asymmetric war of attrition. Anim Behav 36:343–347
Yedlin IN, Ferguson GW (1973) Variations in aggressiveness of free-living male and female collared lizards, Crotaphytus collaris. Herpetologica 29:268–275
Zahavi A (1975) Mate selection – a selection for a handicap. J Theor Biol 53:205–214
Zahavi A (1981) The lateral display of fishes: bluff or honesty in signaling? Behav Anal Lett 1:233–235
Zahavi A, Zahavi A (1997) The handicap principle: a missing piece of Darwin’s puzzle. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank E. Ackland and D. Riedle for help in the field and OG&E Electric Services for access to the study site. I also thank D. Duvall and especially S.F. Fox, C.C. Peterson, and Y. Brandt for thoughtful insights and comments on previous versions of the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Communicated by S. Downes
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Husak, J.F. Signal use by collared lizards, Crotaphytus collaris: the effects of familiarity and threat. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 55, 602–607 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-003-0748-3
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-003-0748-3