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1 December 2010 Consistency of Male Courtship Behavior in a Plethodontid Salamander
Lynne D. Houck, Elyse A. Vaccaro, Karen M. Kiemnec-Tyburczy
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Abstract

Flexibility can be important in male–female behavioral interactions, particularly during courtship when a male typically adjusts his behavior in response to the female. Red-legged Salamanders (Plethodon shermani) have highly stereotyped courtship behaviors but show flexibility in the repetition of particular behaviors. We tested one measure of flexibility in a specific male courtship behavior: pheromone delivery. We compared the number of male pheromone delivery attempts that occurred when a male “slapped” his pheromone-producing mental gland on the female's nares. We compiled a multiyear data set from earlier experiments on salamander behavior to test the consistency in the number of slaps each male delivered in two different courtships. The consistency level was 26% (26% of the total deviance in slapping behavior could be explained by previous slapping behavior), a value within the range of measures for other vertebrate behavioral traits. We interpret this consistency as a possible advantage to the male in delivering sufficient pheromone such that the female will not abandon the male during the critical process of sperm transfer.

Lynne D. Houck, Elyse A. Vaccaro, and Karen M. Kiemnec-Tyburczy "Consistency of Male Courtship Behavior in a Plethodontid Salamander," Journal of Herpetology 44(4), 645-648, (1 December 2010). https://doi.org/10.1670/09-244.1
Accepted: 1 May 2010; Published: 1 December 2010
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