Analysis of Social Dominance in the Green Anole

Dominance relationships are an important aspect of the social organization of many species. Male dominance often results in successful territory defense and/or access to potential mates, and thus is a central component in establishing social rank. In this study, I used mathematical models to consider social interactions of the green anole lizard (Anolis carolinensis) in both territorial and hierarchical contexts. I then identified the behavioral and morphological traits associated with dominance in this species. I first analyzed a series of ranking algorithms to evaluate their effectiveness as a novel approach to quantifying animal social status. I found that all eight systems considered in this analysis successfully reflected dominance relationships in the green anole; however, no one system consistently predicted ranks using the measured traits. Therefore ranking systems are a viable method of analyzing social hierarchies in anoles, yet multiple systems are required to effectively model these dominance relationships. I then performed three empirical studies using the eight ranking systems from the previous analysis. In the first study, I performed a tournament of arena trials using pair