Ecology, Life-History, and Behavior in the Australian Scincid Genus Egernia, With Comments on the Evolution of Complex Sociality in Lizards

Chapple, David G.

doi:10.1655/0733-1347(2003)017[0145:elabit]2.0.co;2

Cited by 258 publications

(388 citation statements)

References 80 publications

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“…In these males, plasma corticosterone concentrations remained elevated at 1 week, but had fallen significantly by 4 weeks, indicating a somewhat slower recovery in corticos terone concentrations than we observed in females of this species. This may reflect different responses between the sexes to isolation in captivity in this social species (Chapple, 2003).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Adrenal and white cell count responses to chronic stress in gestating and postpartum females of the viviparous skink Egernia whitii (Scincidae)

Cartledge

Gartrell

Jones

2005

Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular &

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Adrenal and white cell count responses to chronic stress in gestating and postpartum females of the viviparous skink Egernia whitii (Scincidae)

Cartledge

Gartrell

Jones

2005

Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular &

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“…Male and female E. whitii are sexually monomorphic, become reproductively mature at approximately 3 years and have an overall lifespan of 9-10 years (Chapple 2003). We used E. whitii from a population on the east coast of Tasmania, Australia (42857 0 S, 147888 0 E).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the mechanisms by which variation in social strategies are maintained are poorly understood (Chapple 2003). As Egernia populations are typically highly saturated, characterized by intense competition over limited permanent shelter sites, high levels of conspecific aggression and high juvenile mortality (Chapple 2003;O'Connor & Shine 2004;, conspecific aggression may be an ecologically important behavioural trait for female lizards that, through its effects on the development and maintenance of social strategies (including parental care), mediates reproductive success. Specifically, female aggression may influence both mate acquisition and pair bonding, which can affect reproductive efficiency (Bull 2000), parasite transmission (Bull 2000) and the vulnerability of offspring to conspecific infanticide (O'Connor & Shine 2004;Sinn et al 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Female aggression predicts mode of paternity acquisition in a social lizard

2009

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Individual differences in behaviour are ubiquitous in nature. Despite the likely role of selection in maintaining these differences, there are few demonstrations of their fitness consequences in wild populations and, consequently, the mechanisms that link behavioural variation to variation in fitness are poorly understood. Specifically, the consequences of consistent individual differences in behaviour for the evolution of social and mating strategies have rarely been considered. We examined the functional links between variation in female aggression and her social and mating strategies in a wild population of the social lizard Egernia whitii. We show that female Egernia exhibit temporally consistent aggressive phenotypes, which are unrelated to body size, territory size or social density. A female's aggressive phenotype, however, has strong links to her mode of paternity acquisition (within-versus extra-pair paternity), with more aggressive females having more offspring sired by extra-pair males than less aggressive females. We discuss the potential mechanisms by which female aggression could underpin mating strategies, such as the pursuit/acceptance of extra-pair copulations. We propose that a deeper understanding of the evolution and maintenance of social and mating systems may result from an explicit focus on individual-level female behavioural phenotypes and their relationship with key reproductive strategies.

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“…The great desert skink grows to 200 mm snout-vent length, can weigh up to 350 g, and is endemic to arid Australia (McAlpin 2001;Chapple 2003). It is an obligate burrower that constructs and maintains a complex burrowsystem with multiple openings and interconnecting tunnels that can be up to 80 cm in depth.…”

Section: Study Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feeling the pressure at home: Predator activity at the burrow entrance of an endangered arid‐zone skink

Moore

Kearney

Paltridge³

et al. 2017

Austral Ecology

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Habitat modification and invasive species are among the most important contemporary drivers of biodiversity loss. These two threatening processes are often studied independently and few studies have focused on how they interact to influence species declines. Here we assess the predation pressure placed on the threatened great desert skink (Liopholis kintorei) and how this interacts with fire-induced habitat modifications. We collected daily track data of potential predators for 1 month at 30 great desert skink burrow-systems where vegetation cover varied significantly after experimental burns. We used these data to evaluate potential predation pressure at the burrow-system and assess whether fire influenced predator pressure. We supplemented this analysis by documenting predation via the inspection of large mammalian predator scats collected from great desert skink habitat. The level of feral cat activity at a burrow-system entrance was significantly higher than that of any other potential predator, however fire had no effect on the visitation rates of feral cats, dingoes or large snakes to great desert skink burrow-systems. The remains of great desert skink were found significantly more frequently in feral cat scats, compared to fox and dingo scats. We provide the first direct evidence that feral cats are a significant predator for great desert skink, thus supporting the hypothesis that feral cat predation is a key threatening process. Feral cat activity was not influenced by small-scale experimental burns, however, this does not preclude an effect of larger scale fires and we recommend further research exploring this possible interaction.

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Ecology, Life-History, and Behavior in the Australian Scincid Genus Egernia, With Comments on the Evolution of Complex Sociality in Lizards

Cited by 258 publications

References 80 publications

Adrenal and white cell count responses to chronic stress in gestating and postpartum females of the viviparous skink Egernia whitii (Scincidae)

Adrenal and white cell count responses to chronic stress in gestating and postpartum females of the viviparous skink Egernia whitii (Scincidae)

Female aggression predicts mode of paternity acquisition in a social lizard

Feeling the pressure at home: Predator activity at the burrow entrance of an endangered arid‐zone skink

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