Sensory cues and foraging decisions in a large carnivorous lizard,Varanus albigularis

Kaufman, Jennifer D.; Burghardt, Gordon M.; Phillips, John A.

doi:10.1006/anbe.1996.0217

Cited by 25 publications

(14 citation statements)

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“…This demonstrates how prey mobility is key information for the success of prey-capture behavior in varanid lizards. By extension, it illustrates the importance of sensory feedback from visual cues and chemoreception during the approach of varanid lizards in order to assess the risk of prey escape (Cooper, 1989;Garrett et al, 1996;Kaufman et al, 1996;Cooper and Habegger, 2001;Chiszar et al, 2009;Gaalema, 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similar to other varanid lizards, V. ornatus and V. niloticus make use of extensive tongue-flicking while approaching prey, suggesting that chemoreception is used to detect and locate different prey items (see Cooper, 1989;Kaufman et al, 1996;Cooper and Habegger, 2001). Typically, V. ornatus and V. niloticus stop between 7 and 12cm from the prey (see Table1), then the jaws open and the strike is initiated (see Montuelle et al, 2012).…”

Section: Prey-capture Behavior In Varanid Lizardsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Flexibility in locomotor-feeding integration during prey capture in varanid lizards: effects of prey size and velocity

Montuelle

Herrel

Libourel

et al. 2012

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARYFeeding movements are adjusted in response to food properties, and this flexibility is essential for omnivorous predators as food properties vary routinely. In most lizards, prey capture is no longer considered to solely rely on the movements of the feeding structures (jaws, hyolingual apparatus) but instead is understood to require the integration of the feeding system with the locomotor system (i.e. coordination of movements). Here, we investigated flexibility in the coordination pattern between jaw, neck and forelimb movements in omnivorous varanid lizards feeding on four prey types varying in length and mobility: grasshoppers, live newborn mice, adult mice and dead adult mice. We tested for bivariate correlations between 3D locomotor and feeding kinematics, and compared the jaw-neck-forelimb coordination patterns across prey types. Our results reveal that locomotor-feeding integration is essential for the capture of evasive prey, and that different jaw-neck-forelimb coordination patterns are used to capture different prey types. Jaw-neck-forelimb coordination is indeed significantly altered by the length and speed of the prey, indicating that a similar coordination pattern can be finely tuned in response to prey stimuli. These results suggest feed-forward as well as feed-back modulation of the control of locomotor-feeding integration. As varanids are considered to be specialized in the capture of evasive prey (although they retain their ability to feed on a wide variety of prey items), flexibility in locomotor-feeding integration in response to prey mobility is proposed to be a key component in their dietary specialization.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Prey-capture Behavior In Varanid Lizardsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flexibility in locomotor-feeding integration during prey capture in varanid lizards: effects of prey size and velocity

Montuelle

Herrel

Libourel

et al. 2012

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…Several authors have stressed the importance of visual stimuli on predatory behavior in lizards belonging to other families. In general, visual cues appear to be important in locating prey and orienting predatory attacks in three-dimensional space (Cooper, 1981), in prey discrimination and selection (Askew, Musimeci, Sloane, & Stephan, 1970;Brockhusen-Holzer & Curio, 1990;Burghardt, 1964;Díaz & Carrascal, 1993;Kaufman et al, 1996;Reznick, Sexton, & Mantis, 1981), and in rejection of distasteful prey (Boyden, 1976;Hasegawa & Taniguchi, 1994;Sexton, 1964).…”

Section: The Role Of Visual and Chemical Prey Cues In Predatory Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

Stimulus control of predatory behavior by the Iberian wall lizard (Podarcis hispanica, Sauria, Lacertidae): Effects of familiarity with prey.

Desfilis

Font

Guillén-Salazar

2003

Journal of Comparative Psychology

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The authors examine the relative roles of vision and chemoreception and the influence of previous experience with prey on the predatory behavior of Iberian wall lizards (Podarcis hispanica). Experiment 1 compared the responses to visual, chemical, and a combination of visual and chemical cues of a familiar prey by 2 groups of lizards that had been kept in captivity for either 3 months or 21 days. Experiment 2 assessed the responses of lizards kept in the laboratory for more than 3 months to a novel prey species. The results reveal that feeding on a prey species affects the lizards' responses to chemical stimuli from that prey. The response to chemical cues of a novel prey requires a 1st-feeding experience with that prey. Lizards that have been fed the same prey species for several months cease responding to the chemical stimuli of that particular prey.

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“…For example, Bosc's Monitor (V. exanthematicus) and Gould's Monitor (V. gouldii) detect prey-derived chemical cues presented on cotton-tipped applicators or on trails [Cooper, 1989a[Cooper, , 1993Garrett et al, 1996]. These studies did not assess utilization of visual information, but Kaufman et al [1994Kaufman et al [ , 1996 showed that both visual and chemical cues were used by white-throated Savanna Monitors (V. albigularis) in making discriminations among prey in a density-dependent foraging situation. Although generalization from such a limited database requires caution, we can predict that hatchling V. komodoensis will behave flexibly, perhaps like V. albigularis, making use of both visual and chemical cues, perhaps relying more on the former for reasons stated above [see Burghardt et al, 2002;Greeff and Whiting, 2000].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Response of hatchling Komodo Dragons (Varanus komodoensis) at Denver Zoo to visual and chemical cues arising from prey

et al. 2008

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Five hatchling Komodo Dragons (Varanus komodoensis) at Denver Zoo were observed in two experiments that studied the effects of visual and chemical cues arising from prey. Rate of tongue flicking was recorded in Experiment 1, and amount of time the lizards spent interacting with stimuli was recorded in Experiment 2. Our hypothesis was that young V. komodoensis would be more dependent upon vision than chemoreception, especially when dealing with live, moving, prey. Although visual cues, including prey motion, had a significant effect, chemical cues had a far stronger effect. Implications of this falsification of our initial hypothesis are discussed.

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Sensory cues and foraging decisions in a large carnivorous lizard,Varanus albigularis

Cited by 25 publications

References 0 publications

Flexibility in locomotor-feeding integration during prey capture in varanid lizards: effects of prey size and velocity

Flexibility in locomotor-feeding integration during prey capture in varanid lizards: effects of prey size and velocity

Stimulus control of predatory behavior by the Iberian wall lizard (Podarcis hispanica, Sauria, Lacertidae): Effects of familiarity with prey.

Response of hatchling Komodo Dragons (Varanus komodoensis) at Denver Zoo to visual and chemical cues arising from prey

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