Some Remarks on Herbivorous Lizards

Szarski, Henryk

doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.1962.tb03244.x

Cited by 48 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…It is observed on islands with low predation rates [4]. Another factor that likely influences in vegetable consumption is the intraspecific competition.…”

Section: Environmental Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many species consume vegetables, but they are considered omnivorous (capable of metabolizing different food items) and the majority of their diet is composed of small animals, consisting essentially of arthropods. Less than 3% of lizard species are considered essentially herbivorous [1,2,4,7]. Lizards are considered strictly herbivorous only if more than 90% of its diet is composed of plant materials [3].…”

Section: Vegetables In Composition Of the Lizard's Dietmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, birds and mammals that are exclusively herbivores have high energy efficiency due to temperature maintenance and digestive symbiotic associations [4].…”

Section: Vegetables In Composition Of the Lizard's Dietmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The low nutrient assimilation capacity in lizards reduces growth rates and reproductive capability, causing a reduction in egg production by females [2,4]. Thus, the consumption of plants can make them more susceptible to predation, influencing in the adaptive radiation of the species.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Herbivory by Lizards

Pietczak¹,

Vieira²

2017

Herbivores

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The extent of herbivory in lizards is influenced by several factors. Plant tissues are more difficult to digest than invertebrates due to the presence of cellulose. Thus, so many lizards exhibit carnivorous diet. Nevertheless, some species consume vegetables. Essentially herbivorous diet occurs in about 3% of lizards, while most omnivores add plants in their diets. Omnivorous species tend to eat more fruits, flower, and nectar, because they are easier to digest and provide more nutrients than leaves, which are rich in cellulose. The main factors influencing the consumption of plant material are related to the habitat of the species. Insular and arid environments favor the consumption of plants because such locations have low amount of arthropods available and present water scarcity. It is also possible to observe ontogenetic changes in the lizard's diet, in such a way that young individuals consume only invertebrates, whereas the adults supplement their diet with plant material. When consuming fruits and nectar, lizards become potential dispersers and pollinators. In this sense, some studies have already corroborated seed dispersal and pollination events by lizards. In islands where other species are absent, these interactions are essential for the maintenance of communities.

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“…It is observed on islands with low predation rates [4]. Another factor that likely influences in vegetable consumption is the intraspecific competition.…”

Section: Environmental Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Vegetables In Composition Of the Lizard's Dietmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, birds and mammals that are exclusively herbivores have high energy efficiency due to temperature maintenance and digestive symbiotic associations [4].…”

Section: Vegetables In Composition Of the Lizard's Dietmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Herbivory by Lizards

Pietczak¹,

Vieira²

2017

Herbivores

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“…Therefore, one of the main tendencies of lizards in insular habitats, compared to mainland areas, is to include abundant plant matter in their diets (Pérez-Mellado and Corti, 1993;Van Damme, 1999;Cooper and Vitt, 2002;Olesen and Valido, 2003). High densities of lizards (Bennett and Gorman, 1979;Schoener and Schoener, 1980;Rodda and Dean-Bradley, 2002), lower arthropod prey availability (Janzen, 1973), larger body size (Szarski, 1962;Sokol, 1967;Pough, 1973;Herrel et al, 2004), lower predation risk (Szarski, 1962;Pérez-Mellado and Corti, 1993;Olesen and Valido, 2003), aridity, and foraging mode (Cooper and Vitt, 2002) has been suggested as the explanation of increase in plant material consumption on islands. However, Espinoza et al (2004) demonstrated that most herbivorous liolaemids are small bodied and live in cool climates.…”

Section: Island Biotasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal and Spatial Variation in the Diet of the Endemic Lizard Gallotia galloti in an Insular Mediterranean Scrubland

Rodríguez

Nogales

Rumeu

et al. 2008

Journal of Herpetology

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ABSTRACT.-We analyzed 621 lizard fecal pellets to assess the diet of the endemic lizard Gallotia galloti (Lacertidae) throughout one year in the thermophilous scrubland, the most threatened habitat in the Canary Islands. Indicating the importance of frugivory, 98.1% of pellets contained seeds from fleshy-fruited plant species (8,028 seeds in total), and the fruit volume reached 47.5%. The Canarian endemic plants Rhamnus crenulata and Canarina canariensis were most important in frequency of occurrence and number of seeds found in pellets, respectively. Lizards were more frugivorous during the summer (63.0% of volume), and seasonal variation was associated with temporal changes in availability of ripe fleshy fruits. We detected microspatial differences in the consumption of fruits and plant material. Significant correlations were found between plant cover of each species and their respective consumption by lizards. Lizards consumed invertebrates throughout the year; Formicidae, Hemiptera, Coleoptera, and Hymenoptera were the most frequently consumed prey (76.5% of the animal prey items). Our results indicate that G. galloti is one of the most frugivorous lacertids studied. The high number of undamaged seeds removed by these lizards also implies an important role in the seed dispersal processes of many fleshy-fruited plant species from this threatened habitat.

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Diet variability among insular populations of Podarcis lizards reveals diverse strategies to face resource‐limited environments

Taverne¹,

Fabre

King‐Gillies³

et al. 2019

Ecology and Evolution

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Access to resources is a dynamic and multicausal process that determines the success and survival of a population. It is therefore often challenging to disentangle the factors affecting ecological traits like diet. Insular habitats provide a good opportunity to study how variation in diet originates, in particular in populations of mesopredators such as lizards. Indeed, high levels of population density associated with low food abundance and low predation are selection pressures typically observed on islands. In the present study, the diet of eighteen insular populations of two closely related species of lacertid lizards (Podarcis sicula and Podarcis melisellensis) was assessed. Our results reveal that despite dietary variability among populations, diet taxonomic diversity is not impacted by island area. In contrast, however, diet disparity metrics, based on the variability in the physical (hardness) and behavioral (evasiveness) properties of ingested food items, are correlated with island size. These findings suggest that an increase in intraspecific competition for access to resources may induce shifts in functional components of the diet. Additionally, the two species differed in the relation between diet disparity and island area suggesting that different strategies exist to deal with low food abundance in these two species. Finally, sexual dimorphism in diet and head dimensions is not greater on smaller islands, in contrast to our predictions.

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Some Remarks on Herbivorous Lizards

Cited by 48 publications

References 1 publication

Herbivory by Lizards

Herbivory by Lizards

Temporal and Spatial Variation in the Diet of the Endemic Lizard Gallotia galloti in an Insular Mediterranean Scrubland

Diet variability among insular populations of Podarcis lizards reveals diverse strategies to face resource‐limited environments

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