Population Genetics and Behavioral Ecology: Orange, Blue, & Yellow Male Uta stansburiana

 

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 2016, Volume 37

Ralph Preszler & Avis James

Abstract

Variation in throat color among male side-blotched lizards, Uta stansburiana, is associated with variation in male size and mating strategies. Success of alternative mating strategies is dependent on the frequencies of types of males in the population. In this research-based case study, students use population genetics (Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium), descriptions of mating strategies, and the results of a behavioral ecology field experiment to explore the evolutionary processes that maintain multiple male throat colors in populations. The activity illustrates the maintenance of variation in a population through balancing frequency-dependent selection.

Keywords:  behavioral ecology, population genetics

Boston University (2015)