DeAgamis2: 2nd INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON AGAMID LIZARDS
Part of molecular analysis was completed Key words: Phrynocephalus (superspecies
within the international program «Consortium for versicolor), Ph. hispida, Ph. kulagini, Ph. przewal-the Barcoding of Life (CBOL)». skii, Ph. frontalis, «cryptic» species.
SEXUAL DIMORPHISM IN TRAPELUS RUDERATUS RUDERATUS (SAURIA: AGAMIDAE) WITH NOTES ON THE NATURAL HISTORY
Behzad Fathinia \ Nasrullah Rastegar-Pouyani 2, Ali Bahrami 3, and Steven C. Anderson 4
1 Department of Biology, Payam-e-Noor University Ilam, Iran E-mail: [email protected] 2Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Razi University 67149 Kermanshah, Iran Email: [email protected] 3 School of Veterinary, Ilam University Ilam, Iran
4 Department of Biological Sciences, University of the Pacific Stockton, CA 95211, USA
In agamid lizards, both sexual selection and natural selection influence the form of dimorphism in secondary sexual traits The genus Trapelus Cu-vier, 1816 comprises four species on the Iranian Plateau as follows: T. agilis (Olivier, 1804), T. lessonae (De Filippi, 1865), T. ruderatus (Blanford, 1881) and T. megalonyx (Gunther, 1865). The distribution of T. ruderatus (=the formerly T. persicus) in Iran is limited to southern and southwestern regions of the Iranian Plateau.
Among the Iranian species of the genus Trapelus the study of sexual dimorphism has already been carried out in Trapelus agilis. In this relation, study of sexual dimorphism, coloration and color pattern, and natural history of the Persian
agama (Trapelus ruderatus= the formerly T. per-sicus) is of interest and importance.
The patterns of sexual dimorphism in the Persian agama, T. ruderatus, in relation to environmental issues are discussed. We studied sexual dimorphism and some aspects of natural history and behavior of the Persian agama (Trapelus ruderatus ruderatus) from southwestern Iran. Uni-and multi-variate statistical procedures were employed to explore the paptterns of sexual dimorphism in the Persian agama. Based on the statistical analyses, some characters show significant differences between males and females.
Key words: Trapelus ruderatus, sexual dimorphism, natural history, Ilam, Iran.
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