These Females Display Mating Colors

When we think of mate choice, we often think of male birds like peacocks with their large plumage and bright colors or the greater sage grouse that dance to gain the attention of females.

However with the striped plateau lizard, Sceloporus virgatus, the females adorn the mating colors.

During mating season, female striped plateau lizards will develop on orange patch on their chins. Weiss 2006 found that these patches let males know the condition of their potential mates such as body size and condition, egg quality, and parasitic mite load.

The study did not indicate that females were choosing or competing for males. It seems this color indication just lets males know where they should spend their time during mating season. This is a territorial species. I wonder if the males defending the better habitat have access to healthier females or are they actively searching for females with fuller and more saturated throat patches (as this indicates better health) to mate with?

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