Here’s another oldie, one of the first illustrations I ever did for a researcher. It features the common side-blotched lizard. I remember the researcher I did this for excitedly explaining how their mating strategies worked. Explanation below:
The males of the common side-blotched lizard come in three main categories of throat color: orange, yellow, and blue. The throat color determines the male’s mating strategy. The orange-throated males are good at stealing mates from the blue-throated males and keep large harems of females. Blue-throated males tend to defend small territories, with one mate, and are good at catching other males sneaking in. Yellow-throated males are phenotypically similar to females, and so behave as “sneakers,” infiltrating harems and stealing mates for themselves. The result is a fascinating rock-paper-scissors of mating strategy! This particular illustration was to show how, because of these different mating strategies, populations tend toward either being polymorphic (made up all throat colors) or monomorphic (made up of just one throat color). Herps are the coolest!
