Pre- and Postcopulatory Traits of Salvator Male Lizards in Allopatry and Sympatry

NARETTO, S; BLENGINI, C; CARDOZO, G; CHIARAVIGLIO, M

Scientifica

Hindawi

Año: 2016

2090-908X

The reproductive traits of males are under influence of sexual pressures before and after copulation.The strength of sexual selectionvaries across populations because they undergo varying competition for mating opportunities. Besides intraspecific pressures,individuals seem to be subjected to pressures driven by interspecific interactions in sympatry. Lizards may vary their reproductivestrategies through varying sexual characters, body size, gonadal investment, and spermtraits.We evaluated the reproductive traits,involved in pre- and postcopulatory competition, in allopatric and sympatric populations of Salvator lizards.We observed a spatialgradient of male competition among populations, with the following order: allopatric zone of S. rufescens; sympatric zone; andallopatric zone of S.merianae. Accordingly, variation in secondary sexual character, the relative testismass, and the length of spermcomponent was observed between allopatry and sympatry in each species, suggesting differences in the investment of reproductivetraits. However, we found that these two Salvator species did not differ in secondary sexual characters in sympatry. Interestingly,the trade-off between testes and muscle varied differently from allopatry to sympatry between these Salvator species, suggestingthat the influence of social context on reproductive traits investment would affect lizard species differently.