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Multiple signals in the palmate newt: ornaments help when courting

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Abstract

There is increasing evidence that female mate choice is often based on the assessment of multiple male traits, involving both morphology and behavior. We investigated female mate choice for multiple male traits in the palmate newt, Lissotriton helveticus, including male tail filament length, hind foot web size, crest development, body size, ventral coloration, and courtship display activity. Observations of courtship display in the field revealed that females spent more time in front of males with longer tail filaments. Laboratory experiments revealed a more detailed relationship between filament length and courtship display. We found that females took more sperm masses from males with both longer filaments and greater display activity. Experimental shortening of the tail filament length substantially decreased the number of male sperm masses transferred. However, when we experimentally reversed relative filament length between two males in mating trials, male mating success was explained by courtship activity and not by filament length. Our results show that female palmate newts value multiple traits during mate choice, including both morphological ornaments and reproductive behaviors in males. Our results further suggest that, when filament length is below a certain threshold, females may value the information content of courtship activity over that of filament length.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Sandrine Plénet and Claude Miaud for discussing the results; Bob Montgomerie, László Z. Garamszegi, and Philipp Heeb for discussions, statistical advice, and comments on the manuscript; Géraldine Domisse and Thomas Jolly for help in gathering data from experiment 2; and Olivier Calvez for technical assistance. We are grateful to Philippe and Dominique Dupui, keepers of the Refuge des Etangs de Bassiès for their help. The catching permits were no. 2009-13 (Ariège) and no. 2009-12 (Haute Garonne). This work was supported by the Ministère de la Recherche (PhD fellowship to JC and two CNRS grants to AL and DS), the BioDiversa-project RACE, and the Observatoire Homme-Milieu Pyrénées Haut-Vicdessos.

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  1. Station d’Ecologie Expérimentale du CNRS USR 2936, 2-4 Route du CNRS, 09200, Moulis, France

    Jérémie H. Cornuau, Margaux Rat, Dirk S. Schmeller & Adeline Loyau

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  1. Jérémie H. Cornuau
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  2. Margaux Rat
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  3. Dirk S. Schmeller
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  4. Adeline Loyau
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Correspondence to Jérémie H. Cornuau.

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Communicated by K. McGraw

Dirk S. Schmeller and Adeline Loyau share senior authorship in this study.

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Cornuau, J.H., Rat, M., Schmeller, D.S. et al. Multiple signals in the palmate newt: ornaments help when courting. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 66, 1045–1055 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-012-1355-y

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