The weeping lizard, Liolaemus chiliensis, emits distress calls when trapped by a predator. Conspecific lizards respond to such calls with prolonged immobility, which may increase their probability of remaining undetected by a predator. This benefit, however, depends on the ability to react to the alert message of the call, which may be impaired by natural variation in the calls. The distress calls of L. chiliensis show geographic variation, and here we tested the response of two geographically distant populations (>700 km apart) to local (homotypic) and non‐local (heterotypic) distress calls; if populations are finely tuned to their local calls, they may not be able to respond to heterotypic calls. We found that geographic variation in calls affects the lizards’ response, but this effect was population dependent; whereas southern lizards responded to calls of both populations, the northern lizards only reacted to homotypic distress calls. The factors that determine this asymmetric response to heterotypic calls are unclear and we discuss three hypotheses that have a common component in the difference in body size between the tested populations, which seems to play a key role in determining the response to distress calls in this species.
Vertebrate predation by invertebrates has been classically underexplored and thus underestimated, despite the fact that many arthropods consume vertebrates. To shed some light on the relevance that spider predation may have upon lizards in the Neotropical and Andean regions, we compiled the available information in the literature on this trophic interaction. We found 50 reports of spiders consuming lizards in these regions, and the 88% of these were from the Neotropical region. Spiders belong to eight families, but Ctenidae and Theraphosidae were the most frequently reported predators. Lizards belong to 12 families, and the most commonly consumed species corresponded to the families Dactyloidae (all
Anolis
lizards), Gymnophthalmidae, and Sphaerodactylidae. Data suggest trophic spider–lizard associations between Ctenidae and Dactyloidae, followed by Theraphosidae and Liolaemidae. The body sizes of the spiders and lizards showed a positive relationship, and spiders were smaller than their prey. We conclude that various spider taxa can be considered lizard predators and they may be ecologically important in the Neotropical and Andean regions. However, spiders of prime predation relevance seem to be those of the Ctenidae and Theraphosidae families.
Ethics approval. The captures and experiments enforced all the present Spanish laws and were performed under license from the Ethical and Environmental Organisms of Madrid Community Government (Ref. 10/165952.9/18) where they were carried out.
Consent to participate. Not applicable
Consent for publication. Not applicableAvailability of data and material. The datasets generated and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Code availability. Not applicableProteins from femoral gland secretions of male rock lizards Iberolacerta cyreni allow self-but not individual-recognition of unfamiliar males
In this work, we describe the first records of head-wobble behaviour for Tachymenis peruviana and T. chilensis coronellina. We analyse this behaviour (occurrence, frequency) and accompanying displays in both species. Of particular note is that T. ch. coronellina exhibited more frequent head-wobbling than T. peruviana and, in both records, wind activity was observed during this antipredatory behaviour.
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It is described for the fi rst time the eye-bulging display in two liolaemid lizards, Liolaemus chiliensis and L. gravenhorstii. This display occurs in very low frequency and it was observed in captivity. It is discussed the possibility that the thermoregulation and/or eye-cleaning hypotheses may explain the occurrence of this display in these two species.
KEYWORDS: Eye cleaning, Liolaemus chiliensis, Liolaemus gravenhorstii, thermoregulatory mechanism
RESUMENEn este trabajo se describe por primera vez el despliegue de protrusión ocular en dos lagartos Liolaemidos, Liolaemus chiliensis y L. gravenhorstii. El despliegue ocurre en muy baja frecuencia y fue observado en cautiverio. Se discute la posibilidad de que las hipótesis de termorregulación y/o de limpieza de ojos puedan explicar la ocurrencia de este despliegue en estas dos especies.
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