Reference no: EM13930128

A wide variety of animals tend to select mates based on judgment of particular qualities they possess which may indicate important information about a potential mate (Jones, 1992).

Previous studies have shown that often males use female size as a cue for assessing the size and quality of their clutch (Whiting & Bateman, 1999). In the lizard, Platysaurus broadleyi, previous studies have found that males often tend to select larger females, possibly for this reason (Fitzgerald,1982 ;Rostker, 1983 ;Whiting & Bateman, 1999). Continue ....... All you need to write in your introduction now is something like this:

In this experiment I aimed to determine if males were choosing larger or smaller female lizards to mate with by ....( how did u do this..? ...look at your methods and say in one line)

And I hypothesised that:

1. Males will choose larger females over smaller females
2. There will be a significant difference between the size of the small females and the size of the large ones.

Methods:

- 32 female lizards (, Platysauraus broadleyi ) were used in the study
- Lizards were contained for 4 days together
- The snout vent length of females was measured, which represented their body size
- 16 small lizards were categorized into the small group
- 16 large lizards were categorized into the large group
- 1 small female and 1 large female were placed in a test chamber in two separate sections
- Both were visible to a wild male who could access both from a third section and select one
- Males preference and latency was recorded

Results:

- There was a significant relation found between the size treatments (t = -22.379, df = 30, p < 0.001). Females in the large treatment group were significantly larger than those in the small treatment group.

- There is a significant relation found between male preference and treatment (size of female) (p < 0.001). Males more often chose larger females than small females