Data from: How accurately do behavioural observations predict reproductive success in free-ranging lizards?

Behavioural ecologists often use data on patterns of male-female
association to infer reproductive success of free-ranging animals. For
example, a male seen with several females during the mating season is
predicted to father more offspring than a male not seen with any females.
We explored the putative correlation between this behaviour and actual
paternity (as revealed by microsatellite data) from a long-term study on
sand lizards (Lacerta agilis), including behavioural observations of 574
adult males and 289 adult females, and paternity assignment of
>2500 offspring during 1998-2006. The number of males that
contributed paternity to a female’s clutch was correlated with the number
of males seen accompanying her in the field, but not with the number of
copulation scars on her body. The number of females that a male
accompanied in the field predicted the number of females with whom he
fathered offspring, and his annual reproductive success (number of
progeny). Although behavioural data explained less than one-third of total
variance in reproductive success, our analysis supports the utility of
behavioural-ecology studies for predicting paternity in free-ranging
reptiles.