Young male lizards in South Africa imitate females to fool older males into leaving them alone, in an example of transvestism in the natural world, researchers have found.
The lizards not only avoid fights but gain access to females under the nose of their more macho rivals.
They found that young male Augrabies flat lizards delayed displaying the extravagant colors of mature males until they were able to defend themselves.
PHOTO: AFP
“Experienced males will chase and bite their young rivals,” said associate professor Martin Whiting of Johannesburg’s University of the Witwatersrand.
“By delaying the onset of color to a more convenient period, these males, termed she-males, are making the best of a bad situation.”
Australian National University associate professor Scott Keogh said becoming transvestites for a period offered young males two advantages.
“They can avoid dangerous fights with strong males and still have access to females,” he said.
But, as with large hands and an Adam’s apple in the human world, there is a problem with the lizards’ transvestite transformation.
Dominant males can detect transvestite’s male hormones with their tongues, even if they are fooled by their female appearance.
University of Sydney researcher Jonathan Webb said this meant the she-males needed to be nimble to avoid males who think they are females.
“Males are fooled by looks, but not by smell,” he said.
“She-males are able to maintain this deception by staying one step ahead of a male, and thereby avoiding a nosey tongue that might give the game away.”
The research was published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society.(AFP)
研究學者發現，南非的幼年雄蜥蜴會偽裝成雌性以躲避成年雄蜥蜴的侵擾，這是自然界中「異裝癖」的實例。
幼年蜥蜴這樣做不僅可以躲避眼前強壯對手的攻擊，還能接近雌蜥蜴。
研究學者發現，成年雄性扁身環尾蜥的外表呈現極度鮮艷的色彩，而幼年蜥蜴會延遲這項轉變，直到牠們足以抵抗對手，才會現出「男兒本色」。
約翰尼斯堡韋瓦特斯朗大學的馬汀．懷丁副教授說：「老練的雄蜥蜴會追咬幼小的對手。」
「將變色時間延後到更合宜的時期，讓這些『偽性』雄蜥蜴得以在困境中尋求生機。」
澳洲國立大學副教授史考特．基奧說，男扮女裝一段時間對幼年雄蜥蜴有兩個好處。
他說：「牠們可以避開和強壯雄蜥蜴的打鬥，又能接近雌蜥。」
然而，就像人類世界中，男性擁有手掌大及喉結的特徵一樣，這些蜥蜴的變裝還有破綻。
即便體型較佔優勢的雄蜥蜴被變裝雄蜥的雌性外觀所騙，牠們還是可以用舌頭偵測出牠們的雄性荷爾蒙。
雪梨大學的研究學者強納森．偉博說，這表示這些偽性雄蜥必須夠敏銳才能躲開那些誤以為牠們是雌蜥蜴的雄蜥。
他說：「雄蜥會被外觀欺矇，但氣味卻騙不了牠們。」
「偽性雄蜥只要保持在一步之外，就能騙過成年雄蜥，不會被牠們用以舌頭的嗅覺揭穿這場騙局。」
這項研究刊登在《皇家學會會報》。
（法新社╱翻譯：袁星塵）
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