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A study appearing in Behavioral Ecology shows that in male wall lizards, certain behaviors have a greater influence on the way they resolve territorial disputes than their size and coloration.

While darker male wall lizards are more aggressive and often win, their color does not seem to affect how rivals react to them. More than their color and size, the lizards' behavior influences territorial disputes: males use behaviors like hunching up and extending their throat to show they are ready to fight, while foot shakes are used to signal submission and avoid aggression.

The international research group that carried out the study included researchers from the University of Valencia in Spain, the Theoretical and Experimental Ecology Station (SETE) in Moulis, France, and the University of Turku in Finland. They observed the social behavior of 180 common wall lizards (Podarcis muralis) kept in artificial enclosures designed for such experiments.

"Natural scientists have long been puzzled by the fact that males rarely fight to the death. You might expect competition for limited resources to be fierce, however, animal battle is often more theater than brawl. Aggression is risky, with potential for both opponents to get hurt. Therefore, rivals benefit from resolving their disputes without resorting to harmful fights. This is where signals become crucial," explains researcher Javier Abalos from the University of Valencia.

One poorly understood aspect is that, in many species, aggression levels are more strongly associated with the size and signals of the losing party than with the mismatch between both opponents.

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