Date of Award
Fall 12-2013
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.S.
Degree Program
Biological Sciences
Department
Biological Sciences
Major Professor
Dr. Simon Lailvaux
Second Advisor
Dr. Jerome Howard
Third Advisor
Dr. Elizabeth Derryberry
Abstract
Displays are ubiquitous throughout the animal kingdom. While many have been thoroughly documented, the factors affecting the expression of such displays are still not fully understood. We tested the hypotheses that display production would be affected by ecological context (i.e. the identity of the receiver) and intrinsic qualities of the signaler (i.e. heavyweight and lightweight size class) in the green anole lizard, Anolis carolinensis. Our results supported these predictions and show that a) ecological context, specifically displaying to conspecifics, has the greatest impact on display production; b) size class influenced display rate with heavyweight males displaying more to green females and lightweight males displaying more to green males in similar frequency between the two size classes to their respective target stimuli. Furthermore, our results provide empirical support for differential use of the three major display types (A, B and C displays), and uncover unexpected complexity in green anole display production.
Recommended Citation
Policastro, Catherine, "The Effects of Ecological Context and Individual Characteristics on Stereotyped Displays in Male Anolis carolinensis" (2013). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 1757.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1757
Rights
The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.