Female preference for both behavior and morphology traits of the male Japanese newt Cynops pyrrhogaster

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Males of the Japanese newt (Cynops pyrrhogaster) display complex courtship behaviors and are sexually dimorphic in terms of tail morphology. Pair encounter experiments were conducted to investigate which males are preferred by female newts. Male courtship behavior consisted of four stages, namely, Approach, Fan, Creep and Spermatophore deposition. The Fan behavior was classified into four sub-patterns. Males which showed a specific sub-pattern were accepted at a significantly higher probability by females than males which showed the other sub-patterns. The accepted males had a smaller snout–vent length, higher tail, and larger body mass than the rejected males, and their body weight was relatively heavier. Our results suggest that females of C. pyrrhogaster select their mates based on both behavioral patterns and morphological characters.