UV color determines the issue of conflicts but does not covary with individual quality in a lizard

Ultraviolet (UV) colors are visual signals potentially involved in territorial conflicts. However, the role of UV signals remains unclear relative to the prior resident effect and familiarity with the opponent, and the reliability of UV signals is still controversial. Male common lizards Zootoca vivipara exhibit substantial variation in the reflectance of their throat UV color patch. We tested whether UV reflectance was correlated with indicators of individual condition. We further manipulated throat UV reflectance of resident and intruder lizards and staged repeated encounters in the laboratory during the mating season. We found no evidence of condition dependence of the UV colors expression. During the first encounter among unfamiliar males, a reduction of UV reflectance of 1 of the 2 opponents influenced agonistic behaviors and the contest outcome, such that there was a significant advantage for residents over intruders. This advantage disappeared when both opponents were UV reduced. During the subsequent encounters among familiar males, fighting was more aggressive when opponents displayed similar UV signals, but UV signals did not influence the contest outcome. These results demonstrate that UV reflectance acted as a badge of status in male common lizards whose effects on the behavioral response were modulated, but not overridden, by the prior resident effect and by the familiarity effect. Male–male interactions are therefore mediated by UV signaling and competition for mates should play a major role in the evolutionary maintenance of this ornament. We discuss putative functions and reliability of UV signals.