Male reproductive success and intrasexual selection in the common lizard determined by DNA-microsatellites

The common lizard (Lacerta vivipara) is a small, nonterritorial, live-bearing lacertid that is sexually dimorphic in several morphological traits (e.g., tail length, snout-vent length, head size). Using microsatellites, we examined paternity in a wild population and investigated whether sexual dimorphism could be the result of intra- or intersexual selection. We found multiple paternity in 65.4% of 26 clutches. There was no evidence of assortative mating. Successfully reproducing males were larger and heavier and had longer tail regenerates or intact tails compared to those that did not reproduce. Tail length and body condition of males were related to the number of offspring sired. However, we found no evidence that head width was related to male reproductive success. We conclude that (1) males with higher body condition index might be more successful in male-male interactions or might be able to search more effectively for females, (2) sex divergence in relative tail length in common lizards reflects the action of sexual selection for male reproductive success, and (3) intersexual dietary divergence could be an alternative hypothesis for head size difference between sexes rather than intrasexual selection.