Color polymorphism is genetically controlled, and the process generating and maintaining morphs can affect speciation/extinction rates. Color badges are useful signals in intraspecific communication because they convey information about alternative strategies and can potentially decrease unnecessary conflicts among different color morphs. Competition and aggressive interactions among color morphs can contribute to polymorphism maintenance. This could lead to an uneven spatial distribution of morphs in a population because the local frequency of each morph establishes the intensity of the competition and the fitness of each male. We used a polymorphic lizard, Podarcis muralis, to assess if aggression varies among morphs under two contrasting hypotheses: a heteromorphic versus homomorphic aggression. We used laboratory mirror tests after lizard color manipulation, and we verified the consistency of results with an analysis of the spatial distribution of morphs in a wild population. Both the experiments confirmed that aggression is more common during homomorphic than heteromorphic contests. The adoption of alternative behavioral strategies that minimize risks and costs could facilitate the stable coexistence of the phenotypes and reduce competition. A bias in aggression would advantage rarer morph, which would suffer less harassment by common morphs obtaining a fitness advantage. This process would be negatively-frequency-dependent and would stabilize polymorphism, possibly contributing to sympatric speciation.

中文翻译：

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三种变种的近距离接触：颜色会影响多态蜥蜴的攻击性吗？

颜色多态性受遗传控制，产生和维持形态的过程会影响物种形成/灭绝率。颜色徽章是种内交流中的有用信号，因为它们传达有关替代策略的信息，并且可以潜在地减少不同颜色变形之间不必要的冲突。颜色变形之间的竞争和积极的相互作用可能有助于多态性的维持。这可能导致种群中变体的空间分布不均匀，因为每个变体的局部频率决定了竞争的强度和每个雄性的适应度。我们使用了多态蜥蜴，Podarcis muralis，以评估在两种不同假设下的攻击性是否因变体而异：异态攻击与同态攻击。我们在蜥蜴颜色处理后使用实验室镜子测试，并通过分析野生种群中变形的空间分布来验证结果的一致性。两个实验都证实，在同态竞赛中，攻击性比异形竞赛更常见。采用最小化风险和成本的替代行为策略可以促进表型的稳定共存并减少竞争。侵略性的偏见将有利于稀有变种，而普通变种会受到较少的骚扰，从而获得健康优势。这个过程将负频率依赖，并将稳定多态性，可能有助于同域物种形成。