BREEDING COLORATION, MATING OPPORTUNITIES, ACTIVITY, AND SURVIVAL IN THE LACERTID LIZARD PSAMMODROMUS-ALGIRUS

I studied the activity, spacing patterns, courtship behavior, and survival of males (classified into two groups according to the development of the sexual coloration of the head) and females from a population of the lacertid lizard Psammodromus algirus. Brightly colored (C+) males were significantly larger (and probably older) than dull-colored (C-) males, but aspects of behavior differed between study years. In 1989, C+ males had larger home ranges, were more active, overlapped with more females, and courted females more frequently than C- males. In 1990, none of these traits differed between the two categories of males. The variables associated with survival were different in the two sexes. Larger and more active males survived less well than smaller and less active ones, whereas survival of females was related to the fact that the times when they were observed were later in the day. Higher mortality rates could have been due to a higher predation risk affecting animals that were active on more days or under less favorable conditions. I postulate that die increased activity of males (mainly category C+ in years favoring stronger selection) would increase their short-term reproductive success but negatively affect their survival.