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. 2017 Feb;13(2):20160979.
doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2016.0979.

Gliding lizards use the position of the sun to enhance social display

Danielle A Klomp  1 , Devi Stuart-Fox  2 , Indraneil Das  3 , Terry J Ord  4
Affiliations

Gliding lizards use the position of the sun to enhance social display

Danielle A Klomp et al. Biol Lett. 2017 Feb.

Abstract

Effective communication requires animal signals to be readily detected by receivers in the environments in which they are typically given. Certain light conditions enhance the visibility of colour signals and these conditions can vary depending on the orientation of the sun and the position of the signaller. We tested whether Draco sumatranus gliding lizards modified their position relative to the sun to enhance the conspicuousness of their throat-fan (dewlap) during social display to conspecifics. The dewlap was translucent, and we found that lizards were significantly more likely to orient themselves perpendicular to the sun when displaying. This increases the dewlap's radiance, and likely, its conspicuousness, by increasing the amount of light transmitted through the ornament. This is a rare example of a behavioural adaptation for enhancing the visibility of an ornament to distant receivers.

Keywords: dewlap transmission; orientation; visual signals.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
(a) Draco sumatranus male displaying, showing the transmission of sunlight through the dewlap (photo: T. J. Ord). (b) Perch angle for displaying males, and (c) perch angle for non-displaying males, measured in relation to the sun. Both perpendicular angles (90° and 270°) have been transformed to equal 180°.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
(a) Draco sumatranus male yellow dewlap colour reflectance; (b) Draco sumatranus female blue dewlap colour reflectance.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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