Individual (co)variation of field behavior and locomotor performance in curly tailed lizards

    Authors

    K. Diamond; D. Trovillion; K. E. Allen; K. M. Malela; D. A. Noble; R. Powell; D. A. Eifler;M. E. Gifford

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    J. Zool.

    Keywords

    honest signaling; individual gambit; behavioral syndrome; repeatability; Leiocephalus carinatus; ANOLIS-CRISTATELLUS; ENDURANCE; REPEATABILITY; PERSONALITY; SELECTION; Zoology

    Abstract

    Animal communication among competitors often relies on honest signaling such that displays of aggression accurately reflect an individual's performance abilities. Moreover, the maintenance of honest signaling should be enhanced by the existence of consistent individual differences in behavior and performance, and individual-level correlations between them. Despite this, researchers studying honest signaling rarely measure behavioral repeatability. Here, we demonstrate that field behaviors of free-ranging lizards and a measure of locomotor performance in the laboratory are consistent among individuals (i.e. they were repeatable), although the magnitude of repeatability varies among traits. In addition, endurance appears to be correlated with display frequency in the field at the individual level, suggesting that display frequency is an honest signal of endurance. Interestingly, this correlation was strong for males, and non-existent for females. Our results extend previous studies of behavior-performance relationships by identifying a sex-specific correlation between traits and by partitioning phenotypic correlations into between- and within-individual components. This analytical approach is emerging as a powerful tool for studying individual variation in behavior and physiology.

    Journal Title

    Journal of Zoology

    Volume

    294

    Issue/Number

    4

    Publication Date

    1-1-2014

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    248

    Last Page

    254

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000346091200005

    ISSN

    0952-8369

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