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Unraveling the content of tail displays in an Asian agamid lizard

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Abstract

Understanding the information content of animal displays is crucial for studying signal function and evolution. Previous works focused largely on display variations and their adaptation to background noise, with limited attention to the information content. Here, we explored the information content of tail displays of an Asian agamid lizard Phrynocephalus vlangalii and tested two non-exclusive hypotheses, the individual condition hypothesis and the resource quality hypothesis. We recorded individual tail display videos in the field under four social contexts and measured individual condition and burrow quality. Using linear regression and model selection, we tested associations between display variables and individual condition, as well as burrow quality variables. Fast tail coiling movement and large sweep area of tail lashing are respectively associated with fast sprint speed and large body size in males, while high tail coil amplitude is correlated with large body size in females. In addition, fast tail lashing movement is associated with shallow burrow in males, while in females, fast tail coiling movement is associated with small burrow entrance, and high amplitudes during tail coiling are associated with shallow burrow. Our results show that tail displays in these lizards indeed reflect individual body condition and burrow quality, and the information may help to alleviate social conflict and to assess potential mate quality. Furthermore, both females and males use tail displays to convey important information. Taken together, these results support both hypotheses and cast important insights on the content of tail displays in lizards, which will facilitate research on function and evolution of display signals.

Significance statement

Many animals use visual displays to convey important information across a variety of contexts. We know much about display variations and their adaptations to background noises, but the information content of displays remains largely unclear, especially for species without colorful ornaments and sounds. This imposes significant limitations on understanding of display signal function and evolution. Here, we unraveled the content of tail displays in an Asian agamid lizard by testing two hypotheses using newly developed 3D methods. Consistent with condition and resource hypotheses, our results showed that variation of tail displays reflects individual body condition and burrow quality in the Asian agamid lizard, which suggests tail displays likely play important roles in alleviating social conflict and mate assessment in lizards. In addition, our study demonstrated a novel aspect that displays of females can also convey similar information as those of males.

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Data availability statement

The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are available on Figshare https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.12473252.v2.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Er Ga and Cuo Ke for their logistical assistance in Zoige. We thank Dr. Daniel Noble for advice on statistical methods. We also thank two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments that improved this manuscript.

Funding

This project is supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China to YQ (grant numbers: 31872233, 31572273).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Number 9, Section 4, South Renming Road, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan, China

    Xia Qiu, Qiaohan Hu, Jinzhong Fu & Yin Qi

  2. College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, Sichuan, China

    Xia Qiu & Bisong Yue

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Xia Qiu, Qiaohan Hu & Yin Qi

  4. Department of Ecology, Environment & Evolution, La Trobe University, Victoria, 3086, Australia

    Richard Peters

  5. Departments of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1, Canada

    Jinzhong Fu

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  1. Xia Qiu
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Correspondence to Yin Qi.

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Ethics approval

We obtained permits from the Zoige National Wetland Nature Reserve, where we have a long-term field research station on ecology and evolution of P. vlangalii. All field activities are under permission from local and national conservation authorities. Animal handling follows the approved protocols (number 2018016, Animal Ethics Committee of Chengdu Institute of Biology). We are adhered to the ABS/ASAB “Guidelines for the treatment of animals in behavioral research and teaching.”

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Qiu, X., Hu, Q., Peters, R. et al. Unraveling the content of tail displays in an Asian agamid lizard. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 75, 117 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-021-03062-9

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