No evidence for female association with high-performance males in the green anole lizard, Anolis carolinensis

Sexual selection theory suggests that females may gain significant indirect fitness benefits from mating with males expressing good genes, particularly in animal species where the males provide no parental care. Whole-organism performance abilities have previously been shown to enhance both survival and reproductive success in a range of taxa, and females who mate with high-performance males might therefore gain significant indirect performance benefits. We tested the hypothesis that females associate preferentially with high-performance males in the green anole lizard Anolis carolinensis in laboratory trials using multivariate statistical techniques. Our results indicate that male performance abilities do not influence female mating preferences, either in isolation or as a combined suite of traits. Thus, any indirect performance benefits that a female might gain for her offspring are likely not a result of a female choice process.