Flat lizard female mimics use sexual deception in visual but not chemical signals.

ABSTRACT: Understanding what constrains signalling and maintains signal honesty is a central theme in animal communication. Clear cases of dishonest signalling, and the conditions under which they are used, represent an important avenue for improved understanding of animal communication systems. Female mimicry, when certain males take on the appearance of females, is most commonly a male alternative reproductive tactic that is condition-dependent. A number of adaptive explanations for female mimicry have been proposed including avoiding the costs of aggression, gaining an advantage in combat, sneaking copulations with females on the territories of other males, gaining physiological benefits and minimizing the risk of predation. Previous studies of female mimicry have focused on a single mode of comm

SUBMITTER: Whiting MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2660994 | biostudies-literature | 2009 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature