Fitness of the Endangered Pygmy Blue Tongue Lizard Tiliqua adelaidensis in Artificial Burrows

Milne, Tim; Bull, C. Michael; Hutchinson, Mark N.

doi:10.1670/38-03n

Cited by 28 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Tiliqua adelaidensis, the Pygmy Bluetongue Lizard, is the smallest member of the genus, with a mean adult SVL of 90 mm for males and 95 mm for females (Milne, 1999). It is now restricted to a few fragments of once more extensive native grasslands near Burra in South Australia, and is classed as endangered under the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, 1999.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…The area has hot, dry summers (mean maximum temperature in February = 28.8 • C) and cool moist winters (mean maximum temperature in July = 13.1 • C), with an average rainfall between 400-500 mm (Milne, 1999). Six populations within a 60 kilometre radius of Burra were sampled over the period Oct 2005-March 2006.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Six populations within a 60 kilometre radius of Burra were sampled over the period Oct 2005-March 2006. All were in paddocks on privately owned farms that had been extensively modified by sheep grazing and by the introduction of exotic weeds such as Avena barbarta, Marrubium vulgare and Salvia verbenaca (Milne, 1999).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Omnivorous diet of the endangered Pygmy Bluetongue Lizard, Tiliqua adelaidensis

2007

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We used scats from 71 individuals to determine the diet of the endangered Pygmy Bluetongue Lizard, Tiliqua adelaidensis, from South Australia. As predicted both from its previously reported behaviour as an ambush forager, and from its relatively small size, this scincid lizard feeds largely on arthropod prey, and the prey in the diet change opportunistically over the spring and summer. As expected, the species is less herbivorous than larger species in the same or related genera. However plant material is included in the diet to a greater extent as the summer progresses. Conservation of this species may rely on maintaining a high abundance of arthropod prey, and a habitat where efficient prey capture is possible, and on retaining appropriate plants in the species' habitat.

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Omnivorous diet of the endangered Pygmy Bluetongue Lizard, Tiliqua adelaidensis

2007

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“…Also, the viability of artificial nests in our site has not been compared to that of nests in natural substrates. Nevertheless, the fact that artificial substrates are readily accepted as nest sites suggests a further management option which has been used in other reptiles (Webb & Shine, 2000;Nelson et al, 2002;Milne, Bull & Hutchinson, 2003), especially since suitable natural nest substrates appear to be scarce in our study area.…”

Section: Retreat Usementioning

confidence: 99%

Habitat use of the endangered iguana Cyclura lewisi in a human-modified landscape on Grand Cayman

Goodman

Burton

Echternacht

2005

Animal Conservation

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Cyclura lewisi is an endangered rock iguana endemic to the island of Grand Cayman. Like many other animals, C. lewisi increasingly depends on modified landscapes for its survival. The remaining natural population is too small and fragmented to yield information on the natural history and population biology of this species. Therefore, we studied habitat use in a population of captive-bred, released iguanas in a botanic park. Compositional analysis was used to examine habitat selection and use by iguanas at two scales: selection of home range within the landscape and selection of locations within home ranges. At both scales and for all time periods examined, iguanas preferred modified habitat to natural habitat. Subhabitats were examined only at the scale of selection within the landscape, for which iguanas showed preference in some but not all time periods. Iguanas used artificial retreats more often than natural retreats and commonly occupied retreats in modified areas. Many female iguanas nested in artificial sites within the park. The use of modified habitats and artificial retreats and nests by reintroduced C. lewisi is encouraging, because this and other species of Cyclura may depend on these resources for future survival.

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“…It was thought to be extinct until 1992, when a male was found in the stomach of a dead brown snake near Burra, South Australia (Hutchinson et al 1994). Subsequent surveys have documented its limited geographical range in a few isolated remnant patches of native grassland in the mid-north region of South Australia, an area that is now extensively fragmented by agricultural activities, and have assessed it to be an endangered species (Milne et al 2003a). Individual lizards are solitary and spend most of their time associated with single entrance, vertical burrows constructed by lycosid and mygalomorph spiders (Milne et al 2003b;Fenner et al 2007;Ebrahimi et al 2012).…”

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Interactions between pygmy bluetongue lizards and co-existing species

Ebrahimi

Godfrey

Fenner

et al. 2015

Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia

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This paper describes observations of interactions between endangered pygmy bluetongue lizards (Tiliqua adelaidensis) and other species that co-occur in their native grassland habitat in the midnorth region of South Australia. The lizard lives in spider burrows, and rarely moves away from the burrow entrance. We viewed over 16,000 h of video recording of occupied pygmy bluetongue lizard burrows, taken over five 10 day periods throughout one complete lizard activity season, and documented all cases in which these endangered lizards interacted with co-existing species. We found that these interactions were infrequent. We observed potential competition over burrow resources with lycosid spiders (Lycosa spp), centipedes, and a house mouse, and potential competition over invertebrate prey with a predatory wasp. We also observed unsuccessful predation attempts on lizards in burrows by ravens and brown snakes. We suggest that conservation management might have proceeded effectively without this information, but that it provides useful background information for informed decision making.

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Fitness of the Endangered Pygmy Blue Tongue Lizard Tiliqua adelaidensis in Artificial Burrows

Cited by 28 publications

References 7 publications

Omnivorous diet of the endangered Pygmy Bluetongue Lizard, Tiliqua adelaidensis

Omnivorous diet of the endangered Pygmy Bluetongue Lizard, Tiliqua adelaidensis

Habitat use of the endangered iguana Cyclura lewisi in a human-modified landscape on Grand Cayman

Interactions between pygmy bluetongue lizards and co-existing species

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