Do displays and badges function in establishing th

Authors: Yin Qi Hongfu Wan Haijun Gu Yuezhao Wang

Publish Date: 2010/12/09

Volume: 29, Issue: 2, Pages: 381-387

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Abstract

This study addresses several basic questions relating to the roles of badges and displays in establishing social structure in male Phrynocephalus vlangalii Significant differences in body mass and condition were found between resident and floater males of P vlangalii and resident males engaged in tail curling and agonistic interactions more frequently than floater males Frequency of tail curling was correlated negatively with body mass in floater males but was not correlated with body mass and condition in resident males Relative tailtip badge size relative belly patch size and relative tail length could significantly predict an individual’s body mass and body condition was positively correlated with relative tail length suggesting that resident males may establish their social dominance by communicating their body mass and condition through frequent tail curlingThis work was supported by a National Natural Scientific Foundation of China grant to Yuezhao Wang No 30470252 and Xianguang Guo No 30700062 We thank Yezhong Tang and Daniel WA Noble for comments on previous versions of this manuscript We would also like to thank Qiang Dai and Jianguo Cui for their help with data analysis and reviews of our manuscript We thank Yong Huang and Ke Cuo for assistance in the field work

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