Assignment task:
Anolis distichus (the bark anole) is a small lizard that occupies the trunks of trees in the Caribbean. Males are highly territorial and will fight with other males that enter their territory. During the breeding season, males will display to females by showing their dewlap (throat patch), doing "push-ups", etc. Females prefer to mate with males with more brightly colored dewlaps. Females produce one large egg at a time and will lay a single egg about once every 2 weeks during the breeding season from March until October. In this species, females can store sperm from mating with males and can fertilize all their eggs throughout the breeding season after mating once or more. Eggs and hatchlings are on their own with neither parent providing any additional care. You can see a male bark anole here. Females look similar except they do not have a dewlap.
A student researcher in Hispanola, Juan, wants to determine if selection is acting on male and female anoles. Specifically, Juan has two hypotheses:
In males, Juan hypothesizes that there is selection for brighter dewlap coloration.
In females, Juan hypothesizes that there is selection for females to prefer to mate with males with brighter dewlap coloration.
1) List and describe the four requirements that Juan must demonstrate in male anoles to confirm his hypothesis. Make sure you fully explain each requirement Juan would need to demonstrate, be specific to male anoles, and briefly suggest an experiment Juan could perform to show each. In your answer, describe what trait Juan could measure to estimate fitness for male anoles (i.e. what is a good proxy fitness measure for males).
2) List and describe the four requirements that Juan must demonstrate in female anoles to confirm his hypothesis. Make sure you fully explain each requirement Juan would need to demonstrate, be specific to female anoles, and briefly suggest an experiment Juan could perform to show each. In your answer, describe what trait Juan could measure to estimate fitness for female anoles (i.e. what is a good proxy fitness measure for females).