Intraspecific variation in opportunistic use of trophic resources by the lizard Ameiva corax (Squamata: Teiidae)

Garrison, Grace E.; Phillips, Mia; Eifler, Maria A.; Eifler, Douglas A.

doi:10.1163/15685381-00003060

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…As we argued above, scat-piling was the result of the foraging activity of several individual lizards. Social foraging is not uncommon on abundant food items, where multiple lizards feed simultaneously [ 33 , 34 ]. In the Balearic lizards we have several observations of aggregations of lizards around food resources, as it was observed in Aire Island [ 13 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scat piling and strong frugivory of the Balearic lizard, Podarcis lilfordi (Günther, 1874)

Pérez‐Cembranos¹,

Pérez-Mellado²

2022

BMC Zool

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Background In lacertid lizards from Mediterranean islands, frugivory is common, particularly under prey scarcity, a characteristic of small islands. In several populations, the diet of the Balearic lizard, Podarcis lilfordi, is extremely variable and includes fleshy fruits. However, frugivory is sporadic and there are very few examples of dominant fruit consumption. Results We describe the existence of an extraordinary fruit consumption of a single plant species, the juniper, Juniperus phoenicea, by the Balearic lizard, P. lilfordi. In addition, for the first time in Lacertidae, we describe the existence of scat piling in the population of these lizards inhabiting Cabrera Island (Balearic Islands, Spain). Scat piling was detected in an isolated location with hundreds of scats deposited by several individuals at a particular place. Conclusions The high population density of lizards at the island of Cabrera and the great versatility of foraging behavior of this species allows us to hypothesize that scat piles could act as an attractor for numerous individuals, that is, as inadvertent social information. If that hypothesis is correct, it would result in the concentration of several individuals foraging on a single or a few ripening plants. We cannot, however, rule out that individuals concentrated due to the scarcity of ripening plants in other areas, without any influence of the presence of several lizards, as attractors to the site. Our findings modify previous descriptions of the diet of the Balearic lizard in Cabrera made with smaller samples. In some places and periods of the year, frugivory on a single plant species can be extremely intense and only large sample sizes of scats allow to find these particular trends in the foraging ecology of insular lizards.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scat piling and strong frugivory of the Balearic lizard, Podarcis lilfordi (Günther, 1874)

Pérez‐Cembranos¹,

Pérez-Mellado²

2022

BMC Zool

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“…The preferred habitat of P. thalassinus contained tall rocks with crevices, which seemed to be unevenly distributed and limited in availability. Both the distribution of resources and a reliance on concentrated but limited resources can contribute to animal aggregations (Gardner et al, 2016;Garrison et al, 2016). When habitats contain limited numbers of appropriate rocks with crevices, groups can form when individuals congregate in suitable refugia (Chapple, 2003;Michael et al, 2010).…”

Section: Intraspecific Interactionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

BEHAVIORAL ASSESSMENT REVEALS SOCIAL AGGREGATIONS IN Petrosaurus thalassinus

Morales-Méndez,

Orton,

Haddock

et al. 2024

Rev Latin Herp

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In a brief study on the endemic lizard, Petrosaurus thalassinus, in the Cañon de la Zorra region of Sierra La Laguna Biosphere Reserve in Mexico, over seven days we aimed to gain a preliminary insight into their social structure by examining their behavior, morphology, and habitat use. We captured, marked, and measured 28 adults, and conducted 19.4 hours of focal observations on 47 marked and unmarked adults in the field. Males had longer snout-vent lengths than females, but females had greater mass than males of the same snout-vent length. Lizards exhibited 30 behaviors organized into eight categories. Most notably, while basking on rocks or sharing crevices they aggregated in groups of two to five individuals (< 1m apart) and in frequent visual contact (25/47 observations, 53.2%) while basking on rocks or sharing crevices. Although aggregated lizards showed high levels of mutual tolerance and signaling behavior, they exhibited little to no aggression. Larger lizards used taller rocks and took higher positions on them, but there was no difference between sexes. Furthermore, we observed P. thalassinus in interspecific interactions with Sceloporus hunsakeri and with Ctenosaura hemilopha. Our results indicate that P. thalassinus could have a more complex social system than reported for most lizards, which warrants further investigation.

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“…Moreover, sexual dimorphism has also been shown to affect ecomorphological diversity [ 24 , 25 ]. However, there are very few studies that have addressed intraspecific variations related to the consumption of floral resources [ 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Role of Lizards as Potential Pollinators of an Insular Plant Community and Its Intraspecific Variation

Romero-Egea

Robles

Traveset

et al. 2023

Animals

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The role of lizards as potential pollinators on islands has been documented for either one or a few plants in different parts of the world, but it has never been assessed for an entire plant community. Here, we quantified interaction rate by lizards and evaluated intraspecific differences in the use of flowers on Cabrera Gran (Cabrera archipelago, Balearic Islands) by means of visual observations, automated cameras and the analysis of pollen grain samples. Overall, we recorded interactions of the Balearic wall lizard (Podarcis lilfordi) with flowers of 44 plant species, 72.7% of which were unknown to date. Although florivory occurs in some of these species (35%), the majority of visits were legitimate (65%); in addition, we found intraspecific differences in the interactions related to the sex and age of lizards. Our findings support the role of Balearic wall lizards as potential pollinators across the entire plant community, and their contribution to particular plant species, for instance the endangered Cistus heterophyllus carthaginensis. This study also documents the first record of another sympatric lizard (Tarentola mauritanica) visiting flowers and contributes to the few existing records of flower interactions involving geckos in the Paleartic ecozone.

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Intraspecific variation in opportunistic use of trophic resources by the lizard Ameiva corax (Squamata: Teiidae)

Cited by 5 publications

References 5 publications

Scat piling and strong frugivory of the Balearic lizard, Podarcis lilfordi (Günther, 1874)

Scat piling and strong frugivory of the Balearic lizard, Podarcis lilfordi (Günther, 1874)

BEHAVIORAL ASSESSMENT REVEALS SOCIAL AGGREGATIONS IN Petrosaurus thalassinus

Assessing the Role of Lizards as Potential Pollinators of an Insular Plant Community and Its Intraspecific Variation

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