engleski

Sociability in dominant and subdominant sympatric lizard species

One of the outcomes in competition is forming dominant – subdominant relations between species. Dominance may be associated with a number of species` characteristics, and the question is can sociability be one of the major contributing factors. Sociability can aid in easier and more efficient predator defence, in finding and utilizing resources, or in finding partners. Higher sociability allows for greater population densities and can aid in higher reproductive potential since males can have better access to females. In a model of two competitive lizard species, Podarcis siculus and Podarcis melisellensis, with established dominant – subordinate relationship we tested whether sociability is associated with the dominant competitor. We hypothesized that P. siculus, as the dominant competitor, would exhibit greater levels of sociability. We caught lizards from wild sympatric populations of both species and brought them to the laboratory to acclimatize for 2 weeks. Lizards were tested in a 3 chambered sociability test. We measured time spent in proximity to cage with conspecific, time spent next to empty cage and time spent in the middle (starting) chamber. We found that P. siculus indeed spent significantly more time in proximity to the cage with conspecific and next to the empty cage than P. melisellensis. In conclusion, P. siculus shows greater levels of sociability and exploration of novel objects (empty cage).

Behavioral ecology

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