Phylogeny and Ontogeny of Display Behavior

Johnson, Michele A.; Cook, Ellee G.; Kircher, Bonnie K.

doi:10.1201/9781498782739-9

Cited by 9 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…Some behaviors observed in P. montium are similar to lizards of the Teiidae family, the sister clade of Gymnophthalmidae, and to some non-related lizards like iguanids and lacertids [ 11 , 42 , 48 , 53 , 54 ]. This confirms that visual communication and multimodal signaling, or the combinatorial usage of more than one communication modality, are widespread across Squamata.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite being one of the most diverse families in the Neotropical region, with more than 250 species [ 37 , 38 ], we know very little regarding behavior and communication in gymnophthalmid lizards, and in most fossorial or semi-fossorial squamates [ 11 ]. This is probably because of its reduced size and cryptic lifestyle.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Signals that involve limb movement like raising, waving, or circumduction, have never been reported in Gymnophthalmidae. However, these signals are common among iguanian lizards, particularly in the Agamidae family [ 3 , 4 , 11 ]. Leg waving has also been described in Lacertidae, Scincidae, and Teiidae [ 47 , 48 , 49 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Chemical signals are secreted by epidermal glands such as the femoral follicular glands and the preanal glands, although metabolites in skin or in feces may also be important [ 8 , 9 , 10 ]. In addition to chemical signaling, visual signaling is widespread across lizards and consists of the context-dependent presentation of visually distinctive skin ornaments like dewlaps, proboscides, colorful parts of the body, changes in coloration, movement of the head, limbs or tail, among others [ 11 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In gymnophthalmid lizards, as well as in other fossorial lacertoids, it has been suggested that communication is conducted mostly using chemical cues to inform behaviors such as social interactions, courtship, and mating [ 14 , 18 ]. According to the most complete evolutionary analysis of lizard display behaviors, produced by Johnson et al [ 11 ], within the family Gymnophthalmidae there are no records of visual displays that involve postural changes, movement of head, limbs or mandible, and very few species (only 2 out of 31 genera analyzed) show stimulus elicited tail movements. Importantly, a few species of Gymnophthalmidae have conspicuous colorations while some others exhibit color bands or color patches in the belly, throat, or limbs [ 21 ], yet the signaling value of such characteristics also remains to be studied.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Visual Signaling in the Semi-Fossorial Lizard Pholidobolus montium (Gymnophthalmidae)

Poma-Soto

Narváez²,

Romero‐Carvajal

2021

Animals

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It has been suggested that gymnophthalmids, like most semi-fossorial lacertoids, rely more in chemical cues to communicate, in comparison to other groups, like Iguanids, on which communication is mostly based on visual signaling. We present the first description of visual signaling in the Andean lizard Pholidobolusmontium (Gymnophthalmidae) and a complete ethogram based on ex situ observations (34 different types of behaviors including positions and simple movements). Through the design of conspecific stimulus experiments, we were able to recognize leg-waving as a visual signal, as it is only displayed in presence of conspecifics or in presence of a mirror and was one of first and most frequent displays in this context. We also detected other visual displays like neck-arching and tail-undulation which may also be relevant as visual signals. Based on our results, we propose that visual signaling is also possible in semi-fossorial lizards; however, further studies regarding chemical signal recognition and color detection are required to confirm our hypothesis.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Visual Signaling in the Semi-Fossorial Lizard Pholidobolus montium (Gymnophthalmidae)

Poma-Soto

Narváez²,

Romero‐Carvajal

2021

Animals

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Multiple sensory modalities in diurnal geckos is associated with the signalling environment and evolutionary constraints

Kabir

Venkatesan

Thaker

2020

Integrative Organismal Biology

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To be effective, animal signals need to be detectable in the environment, but their development and expression require resources. For multimodal communication, investment in elaborating traits in one modality could reduce the elaboration of traits in other modalities. In Cnemaspis geckos, chemical signals for conspecific communication pre-dated the evolution of visual signals, allowing us to examine the potential trade-off in signal elaboration and the current habitat associations with signal use. We studied five species of Cnemaspis and quantified visual (patch size, colour characteristics) and chemical (secretory composition) traits in males, as well as key environmental parameters (temperature, humidity, light) in each of their habitats. Within species, we found some trade-off in the elaboration of signals, as the strength of several components in the visual and chemical modalities were negatively associated. Strength of some signal components in each modality was also independently associated with specific environmental parameters that affect their detection (visual traits) and persistence (chemical traits). Specifically, species with larger, brighter, and more saturated colour patches were found in habitats where the brightness and chroma of light were lower. Furthermore, environments with higher substrate temperature and higher relative humidity harboured species that produced secretions with a higher percentage of saturated and aromatic compounds. Thus, the elaboration of multimodal signals in this group of Cnemaspis geckos seem to increase efficiency of communication in the signalling-environment, but the strength of signals in different modalities are constrained by trade-offs in signal expression.

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Too cool to fight: Is ambient temperature associated with male aggressive behavior in the mesquite lizard?

et al. 2022

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Aggressive behavior is performed in the context of intraspecific competition for gaining access to mates, food, or suitable territories. However, aggressive confrontations may divert time and energy from other important activities and increase the likelihood of suffering physical injury or predation. Aggressive behavior is particularly costly for ectotherms because it may reduce the time available for thermoregulation, which is a time‐consuming activity but indispensable for adequate maintenance of metabolic processes. In this study, we analyzed the long‐term effect of the thermal quality (i.e. the degree of discrepancy between the temperatures available in a given environment and temperatures that animals prefer) on the aggressive behavior of the mesquite lizard Sceloporus grammicus. Our hypothesis was that time allocated to aggressive behavior in low thermal quality environments is diverted from time spent on the acquisition and maintenance of an adequate body temperature. Accordingly, we found that lizards from the low thermal quality location (i.e. low environmental temperature) exhibited less aggressive behavior than those captured in middle and high thermal quality locations. Our results show that in the low thermal quality location aggressive behavior was almost absent, suggesting that this behavior may interfere with the acquisition and maintenance of an adequate body temperature. Therefore, it is likely that the benefits of thermoregulation outweigh those of aggressive behavior at low thermal quality locations.

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Phylogeny and Ontogeny of Display Behavior

Cited by 9 publications

References 1 publication

Visual Signaling in the Semi-Fossorial Lizard Pholidobolus montium (Gymnophthalmidae)

Visual Signaling in the Semi-Fossorial Lizard Pholidobolus montium (Gymnophthalmidae)

Multiple sensory modalities in diurnal geckos is associated with the signalling environment and evolutionary constraints

Too cool to fight: Is ambient temperature associated with male aggressive behavior in the mesquite lizard?

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