Chemoreception, symmetry and mate choice in lizards

Research on fluctuating asymmetry (FA)-mediated sexual selection has focuse d almost exclusively on visual signals and ignored chemical communication d espite the fact that many species rely on chemical signals for attracting m ates. Female mate choice based on visual traits appears to be rare in lizar ds. However, the femoral glands of male lizards produce pheromones which mi ght transmit chemical information about an individual's developmental stabi lity Therefore, Mie hypothesized that mate choice may be based on chemical cues. We analysed the effect of the developmental stability levels of males on the attractiveness of males' scents to females in a laboratory experime nt with the lizard Lacerta monticola. When we offered two males of similar body size, females preferentially associated with the scents of males with low FA in their femoral pores and also with the scents of males with a high er number of femoral pores. This suggested that the females were able to di scriminate the FA of the males by chemical signals alone and that the femal es preferred to be in areas marked by males of high quality, thus increasin g their opportunities of mating with males of high quality We suggest that the quality and/or amount of male pheromones could communicate the heritabl e genetic quality of a male to the female and thereby serve as the basis fo r adaptive female choice in lizards.