Orange morph lizards have a male size of 3.8cm, 0.8g. their male's territory size is 800m. their number of mated females is 5. their number of eggs produced from matings is 30, and their surviving offspring is 8.
Blue morph lizards have a male size of 5.0cm, 0.6g. their male's territory size is 300m. their number of mated females is 3. their number of eggs produced from matings is 12, and their surviving offspring is 10.
Yellow morph lizards have a male size of 4.5cm, 0.5g. their male's territory size is 0m. their number of mated females is 6. their number of eggs produced from matings is 25, and their surviving offspring is 7.
Side-splotched lizards, Uta stansburiana, are a type of lizard found in the south-western United States. Male lizards come in three sizes. Each size has a corresponding color and reproductive strategy.
The largest, orange-morph lizards maintain large harems over large territories which are difficult to guard against competitors. Since they are the largest males, they easily win challenges by smaller males. However since their territories are so large, it is hard for them to be everywhere at once.
The medium sized, blue-morph males defend smaller harems in smaller territories that are easier to guard and protect. They cannot win against a larger male, but fewer females are easier to keep track of.
Yellow-morphs are the smallest male lizards and resemble females. They do not maintain territories or harems, however their resemblance to females allows them to infiltrate the harems of larger males and mate with females while remaining unnoticed.
Which male would be considered the most evolutionarily successful?
A Blue Morph
B Orange Morph
C Yellow Morph
D None of the three species
B Orange Morph
The orange morph male lizards would be considered the most evolutionarily successful because they have the largest territory size, the most number of mated females, the highest number of eggs produced from matings, and the highest number of surviving offspring. Their size and reproductive strategy allow them to successfully compete for mates and resources, leading to greater reproductive success compared to the other morphs.