Darevskia brauneri

FEMALE’S SOCIAL ATTRACTIVENESS AS THE BASIS OF ARISING HER LONG-TERM SEXUAL CONNECTION WITH A MALE IN THE ROCK LIZARD DAREVSKIA BRAUNERI (REPTILIA, SAURIA)

When a female goes over to the settled way of life, the territory of a male with a high frequency of affiliative behavior (A-behavior) with respect to this female always becomes the formation centre of the female’s permanent home range. As the frequency of the male’s A-behavior becomes stably high (or low) in the first days of existence of a dyad and does not depend on the female’s behavior, it can be concluded that the choice of the male, rather than that of the female, underlies any long-term male - female connection, and it is just social choice rather than sexual one.