Thesis Progress at CES on 8 June 2022 at 3:00 pm titled "Dance or disappear: Strategic sexual signalling in female Peninsular rock agama Psammophilus dorsalis" by Aravind Sridharan from IIsc, Bangalore

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Topic: 
Dance or disappear: Strategic sexual signalling in female Peninsular rock agama Psammophilus dorsalis
Speaker: 
Aravind Sridharan, IIsc, Bangalore
Date & Time: 
8 Jun 2022 - 3:00pm
Event Type: 
Thesis Progress
Venue: 
CES Seminar Hall, 3rd Floor, Biological Sciences Building
Abstract:

Sexual selection in polygynous mating systems has largely been studied in the context of female mate choice and competition in males. There is empirical evidence on how males strategize their investment in costly displays. More recently, studies have observed sexual signalling in females, however, our understanding of how females invest in such costly signals is limited. Male Peninsular rock agama Psammophilus dorsalis show diverse displays in the context of competitions and courtship. Recent studies indicate that females also use complex displays during the breeding season. Here we test the hypothesis that females invest more in sexual signalling when there is reduced availability of mating opportunities with high-quality males. We also test whether females increase their sexual signalling through the breeding season to maximize terminal-mating opportunities. We caught and tagged wild female lizards and released them back into their territories. On these lizards, we carried out model presentation trials, where 3D printed models of a male lizard in breeding and non-breeding colours were presented following which, the initial response of the focal lizard was recorded. We have conducted and recorded 129 trials across three breeding seasons between 2019 and 2021. Preliminary analysis shows that females display using dynamic colour change and body postures in response to male models in breeding colour. This paper investigates how female Peninsular rock agama strategizes their investment in sexual signals based on various intrinsic factors, social conditions and life-history trade-offs.