Tail autotomy is associated with boldness in male but not female water anoles

Talavera, Janelle B; Carriere, Austin; Swierk, Lindsey; Putman, Breanna J.

doi:10.1007/s00265-021-02982-w

Cited by 9 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 109 publications

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“…Populations exposed to higher predator pressure show lower frequency of tail autotomy, especially when the predators are efficient in killing the prey (Itescu et al, 2017 ). However, the propensity for autotomy is critical in escaping the attack and further increases with increased food availability, intraspecific competition and animal boldness (Kuo & Irschick, 2016 ; Talavera et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While intraspecific competition increases tail autotomy frequency in males and not in females (Itescu et al, 2017 ; Kuo & Irschick, 2016 ; Talavera et al, 2021 ), males also tend to face higher predation risk (Stuart‐Fox et al, 2003 ). The rationale explaining why lizard sexes might face different predation risk and perform with different escape rate follows sex differences in morphology and behavior.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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High predation risk decimates survival during the reproduction season

Smolinský

Hiadlovská

Marsala

et al. 2022

Ecology and Evolution

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Predators attack conspicuous prey phenotypes that are present in the environment. Male display behavior of conspicuous nuptial coloration becomes risky in the presence of a predator, and adult males face higher predation risk. High predation risk in one sex will lead to low survival and sex ratio bias in adult cohorts, unless the increased predation risk is compensated by higher escape rate. Here, we tested the hypothesis that sand lizards ( Lacerta agilis ) have sex‐specific predation risk and escape rate. We expected the differences to manifest in changes in sex ratio with age, differences in frequency of tail autotomy, and in sex‐specific survival rate. We developed a statistical model to estimate predation risk and escape rate, combining the observed sex ratio and frequency of tail autotomy with likelihood‐based survival rate. Using Bayesian framework, we estimated the model parameters. We projected the date of the tail autotomy events from growth rates derived from capture–recapture data measurements. We found statistically stable sex ratio in age groups, equal frequency of tail regenerates between sexes, and similar survival rate. Predation risk is similar between sexes, and escape rate increases survival by about 5%. We found low survival rate and a low number of tail autotomy events in females during months when sand lizards mate and lay eggs, indicating high predator pressure throughout reproduction. Our data show that gravid females fail to escape predation. The risks of reproduction season in an ectotherm are a convolution of morphological changes (conspicuous coloration in males and body allometry changes in gravid females), behavior (nuptial displays), and environmental conditions which challenge lizard thermal performance. Performance of endotherm predators in cold spring months endangers gravid females more than displaying males in bright nuptial coloration.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High predation risk decimates survival during the reproduction season

Smolinský

Hiadlovská

Marsala

et al. 2022

Ecology and Evolution

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“…Populations exposed to higher predator pressure show lower frequency of tail autotomy, especially when the predators are efficient in killing the prey (Itescu et al 2017). However, the propensity for autotomy is critical in escaping the attack and further increases with increased food availability, intraspecific competition and animal boldness (Kuo and Irschick 2016; Talavera et al 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While intraspecific competition increases tail autotomy frequency in males and not in females (Itescu et al 2017; Kuo and Irschick 2016; Talavera et al 2021), males also tend to face higher predation risk (Stuart-Fox et al 2003). The rationale explaining why lizard sexes might face different predation risk and perform with different escape rate follows sex differences in morphology and behaviour.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High predation risk decimates survival during the reproduction season

Smolinský

Hiadlovská

Marsala

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Predators attack conspicuous prey phenotypes that are abundant in the environment. Male display behaviour of conspicuous nuptial colouration becomes risky in the presence of a predator, and adult males face higher predation risk. High predation risk in one sex will lead to low survival and sex ratio bias in adult cohorts, unless the increased predation risk is compensated by higher escape rate. Here, we tested the hypothesis that sand lizards (Lacerta agilis) have sex-specific predation risk and escape rate. We found statistically stable sex ratio in age groups, equal frequency of tail regenerates between sexes, and similar survival rate. Predation risk is similar between sexes, and escape rate increases survival by about 5%. We found low survival rate and a low number of tail autotomy events during the months when sand lizard females mate and lay eggs, indicating high predator pressure throughout reproduction, when females fail to escape predation. The risky reproduction season in an ectotherm is a convolution of morphological changes (conspicuous colouration in males, body allometry changes in gravid females), behaviour (nuptial displays), and environmental conditions which challenge lizard thermal performance, favouring performance of endotherm predators in cold spring months.

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“…However, autotomy is often assumed to yield long-term consequences on fitness, as detached appendages or body parts often play a role in courtship, mating, or sperm transfer (reviewed in Emberts et al 2019). Evidence regarding the effects of autotomy on reproduction is equivocal nonetheless, as the loss of body parts is known to bring negative, neutral, or even positive effects to reproduction (Emberts et al 2019;Michaud et al 2020;Cirino et al 2021;García-Hernández and Machado 2021;Talavera et al 2021). For example, after 'tail' autotomy, female scorpions experienced decreased fecundity, whereas males did not experience decreases in mating success (García-Hernández and Machado 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Robustness in action: Leg loss does not affect mating success in male harvestmen

Escalante

Elias

2022

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Defensive strategies, like other life-history traits favored by natural selection, may pose constraints on reproduction. A common anti-predator defense strategy that increases immediate survival is autotomy—the voluntary release of body parts. This type of morphological damage is considered to impose future costs for reproduction and fitness. We tested an alternative hypothesis that animals are robust (able to withstand and overcome perturbations) to this type of damage and do not experience any fitness costs in reproductive contexts. We explored the effects of experimental leg loss on the reproductive behavior of one species of Neotropical Prionostemma harvestmen. These arachnids undergo autotomy frequently, do not regenerate legs, and their courtship and mating necessitate the use of legs. We assessed the effect of losing different types of legs (locomotor or sensory) on courtship behavior and mating success in males. We found no differences in the mating success or in any measured aspect of reproductive behavior between eight-legged males and males that experienced loss of legs of any type. Additionally, we found that morphological traits related to body size did not predict mating success. Overall, our experimental findings support the null hypothesis that harvestmen are robust to the consequences of morphological damage and natural selection favors strategies that increase robustness. Significance statement In order to survive encounters with predators, animals have evolved many defensive strategies. Some of those behaviors, however, can come with a cost to their overall body condition. For example, some animals can voluntarily lose body parts (tails, legs, etc.) to escape. This process can then affect many aspects of an animal’s life, including reproduction. In a group of harvestmen (daddy long-legs) from Costa Rica, we tested the hypothesis that males are robust to the potential consequences of losing legs, and will not experience costs. We found that males that lost either legs used for locomotion or for sensory perception reproduced in the same way as animals with all of their legs. Consequently, we demonstrate that these arachnids are able to withstand the loss of legs with no effects on reproduction.

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Tail autotomy is associated with boldness in male but not female water anoles

Cited by 9 publications

References 109 publications

High predation risk decimates survival during the reproduction season

High predation risk decimates survival during the reproduction season

High predation risk decimates survival during the reproduction season

Robustness in action: Leg loss does not affect mating success in male harvestmen

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