Response of brown anoles Anolis sagrei to multimodal signals from a native and novel predator

Abstract

Multiple studies have focused on the importance of single modalities (visual, auditory, olfactory) in eliciting anti-predator behavior, however multiple channels are often engaged simultaneously. While examining responses to multiple cues can potentially reveal more complex behavioral responses, little is known about how multimodal processing evolves. By contrasting response to familiar and novel predators, insights can be gained into the evolution of multimodal responses. We studied brown anoles’ (Anolis sagrei) response to acoustic and visual predatory cues of a common potential predator, the great-tailed grackle Quiscalus mexicanus and to the American kestrel Falco sparverius, a species found in other populations but not present in our study population. We observed anole behavior before and after a stimulus and quantified rates of looking, display, and locomotion. Anoles increased their rate of locomotion in response to grackle models, an effect modulated by grackle vocalizations. No such response or modulation was seen when anoles were presented with kestrel stimuli. This suggests that the degree of sophistication of anole response to predators is experience dependent and that relaxed selection can result in reduced anti-predator response following loss of predators.

Experimental evidence of impacts of an invasive parakeet on foraging behavior of native birds

“…This finding is consistent with previous studies demonstrating this initial lack of response of prey to the calls of a novel avian predator (Reudink et al 2007; Elmasri et al 2012) and studies demonstrating learned association of predator cues (reviewed by Griffin et al 2000). …”

The brown anole dewlap revisited: do predation pressure, sexual selection, and species recognition shape among-population signal diversity?

“…In their paper on A. cuvieri , Leal & Rodriguez-Robles (1997b) reported DEs in response to a snake model in only one individual out of a total of five. Moreover, several recent studies on A. sagrei found no evidence for increased DE rates in response to predatory birds ( Simon, 2007 ; Elmasri et al, 2012 ), snakes ( Yee et al, 2013 ), or curly-tailed lizards ( Driessens, Vanhooydonck & Damme, 2014 ; Steinberg et al, 2014 ). For these reasons, we are sceptical about the role of the dewlap as a pursuit-deterrent and, hence, about predation pressure as a driver for dewlap size evolution.…”

Sex‐specific antipredator response to auditory cues in the black spiny‐tailed iguana

“…Predator presence and risk can be evaluated using visual, chemical, olfactory, and auditory cues (Fine, 1999;Mirza, Scott & Chivers, 2001;Bernal, Rand & Ryan, 2007;McCoy et al, 2012;Hermann & Thaler, 2014). In contexts that are suboptimal for detecting predators, prey may require the use of multiple cues to evaluate predatory risk (Elmasri et al, 2012). The combination of cues used to detect a predator can be specific to particular taxa; for example, most birds primarily rely on their vision to scan their environment for predators (Fernandez-Juricic, Erichsen & Kacelnik, 2004), whereas some fish species may be more likely to use olfactory cues (Mirza et al, 2001;Dixson, Munday & Jones, 2010).…”