Escape tactics by a neotropical montane lizard: a comparison of flight responses against natural and nonnatural predators

Prey must judge the level of threat related to a given predator attack to employ the most efficient escape strategy at a low cost. In this context, the capacity of prey to correctly assess the threat from predators might optimise their decision on the strategy employed to flee. We examined the escap...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Acta ethologica 2017-02, Vol.20 (1), p.9-15
Main Authors: Ventura, Stefânia P. R., Passos, Daniel C., Machado, Leonardo L., Horta, Guydo, Galdino, Conrado A. B.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal behavior
Animal cognition
Behavioral Sciences
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Comparative studies
Evolutionary Biology
Lacertilia
Life Sciences
Lizards
Original Paper
Predation
Predators
Prey
Reptiles & amphibians
Tropidurus
Zoology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Prey must judge the level of threat related to a given predator attack to employ the most efficient escape strategy at a low cost. In this context, the capacity of prey to correctly assess the threat from predators might optimise their decision on the strategy employed to flee. We examined the escape behaviour of the montane lizard Tropidurus montanus in response to different types of predatory stimuli. Lizards stimulated by a model of a natural predator ran shorter distances straight towards shelter and spent less time in flight. On the other hand, when exposed to a model of a nonnatural predator, T. montanus performed longer flights in distance and time, running across open and exposed substrates in the view of predators. These results showed that the lizard T. montanus made different escape decisions according to the type of predatory stimulus.
ISSN:0873-9749
1437-9546
DOI:10.1007/s10211-016-0242-3