Development and outcome of intrasexual contests in males and females of Chalcides viridanus (Fam. Scincidae) along breeding period
Abstract Morphological and behavioural traits influence contest development and outcome. We analysed morphological and behavioural traits in male and female staged contests of Chalcides viridanus along breeding time. There was no significant difference in any morphologic trait for winner and looser male contenders; larger hind-limbs and heads were significantly associated to winner females. ‘Approach’ was positively while ‘flee’ negatively associated to winner males. ‘Tongue-flick’ and ’approach’ were positively associated to female winners and ‘flee’ to losers. Contest intensity was higher in male than in female contests. For males it was higher in May than in March or April but for females in April and May than in March. Contest intensity was positively related to head width in loser males, suggesting fitting to a pure self-assessment model. For females there was no significant association. For the first time we have shown that skink female contests are as complex as those of males.