Sexual selection often leads to evolution of conspicuous signals, raising the chances of attracting not only potential mates, but also predators. In lacertid lizards, ultraviolet-blue spots on flanks and shoulders represent such a trait. Some level of correlation between male and female ornamentation is also known to exist. Therefore, the phenotype of females may change in the absence of sexual selection. We tested this hypothesis on a complex of parthenogenetic and bisexual lizards of the genus Darevskia. We evaluated area, counts and chromatic properties (UV opponency, saturation) of UV-blue spots and compared the values between the clones and their bisexual progenitor species. We found a fair heterogeneity between the parthenogenetic species, but no general tendency towards higher crypsis nor conspicuousness. Values of the parthenogens were not significantly different from the values of sexual females. A possible explanation is that the changes in selective forces associated with parthenogenetic reproduction are too small to affect the resulting pattern of selective pressures on the studied traits, or that the phenotypes of the parthenogens result from the unique combination of parental genomes and are conserved by clonal reproduction.

中文翻译：

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生殖方式会影响性选择的色素吗？评估达里夫斯基属单性生殖和双性蜥蜴中的紫外线蓝点

性选择通常会导致明显信号的演变，从而增加了不仅吸引潜在配偶而且还吸引掠食者的机会。在蜥蜴蜥蜴中，侧面和肩膀上的紫外线蓝色斑点代表了这种特征。男性和女性装饰之间也存在某种程度的相关性。因此，在没有性别选择的情况下，女性的表型可能会改变。我们在Darevskia属的单性生殖和双性蜥蜴的复合体上检验了该假设。我们评估了紫外线蓝点的面积，计数和色度特性（紫外线饱和度，饱和度），并比较了克隆及其双性祖先物种之间的值。我们发现孤雌生殖物种之间存在相当的异质性，但是没有普遍的趋势，即更高的低温现象和显眼性。孤雌激素的值与性雌性的值没有显着差异。一个可能的解释是，与孤雌生殖繁殖相关的选择性力的变化太小，无法影响所研究性状的选择性压力模式，或者孤雌激素的表型是由亲本基因组的独特组合产生的，并且被克隆保存再生产。