Common side-blotched lizard
The Common side-blotched lizard (Uta stansburiana) who calls the Carrizo Plain National Monument, among other places, home.

 

Territory defense by males is dependent on throat-color - males with orange throats are very aggressive and defend large territories, while males with dark blue throats are less aggressive and defend smaller territories. Males with prominent yellow stripes on their throats are 'sneakers' and do not defend territories (receptive females also have yellow-striped throats). Aggression in orange males is linked to higher levels of testosterone, as is the case for other vertebrates.

 

Male reproductive success and strategy mimics the "rock-paper-scissors" game. The wide-ranging 'ultradominant' strategy of orange males is defeated by the 'sneaker' strategy of yellow males, which is in turn defeated by the 'mate-guarding' strategy of blue males; the orange strategy defeats the blue strategy to complete the dynamic cycle.

 

Photo by Russ Namitz, Wildlife Biologist, BLM