Defensive behaviour and tail autotomy in Coleodactylus meridionalis (Squamata: Sphaerodactylidae)

ABSTRACT

Lizards can display several defensive behaviours. Here, we describe defensive behaviours of Coleodactylus meridionalis (Meridian Gecko) in an Atlantic Forest fragment in Pernambuco, Northeastern Brazil, using pitfall traps with drift fences and time-limited diurnal and nocturnal search method. We also tested if body size and sex predict the incidence of caudal autotomy. We recorded six antipredatory behaviours in 253 individuals. Hiding was the most common behaviour, followed by immobility, locomotory escape, caudal autotomy, cloacal discharge, and jumping escape. Of the 223 individuals collected for analysis of caudal autotomy, nearly half of them had autotomised tails. About 55% of individuals with autotomised tail were found with a regenerating tail. The tail had at least two points of autotomy: a distal one and a basal one. Regardless the sex of individuals, the probability of autotomy decreased as body size increases. Our results can guide future studies on behavioural ecology of this lizard species.

KEYWORDS:

• Lizard
• Gekkota
• sexual dimorphism
• anti-predatory behaviour
• Atlantic Forest

Acknowledgements

CNO was supported by a fellowship from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) (130287/2015-6). Bruna Bezerra kindly prepared Figure 3. DBP was supported by a FAPESP post-doc fellowship during the initial preparation of this manuscript (#2016/13949-7). This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil (CAPES) – Finance Code 001. SCR was supported by FUNCAP (BP3-0139-00323.01.00/18). We would like to thank Marechal Newton Cavalcante Educational Field Center for allowing access to the area.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico [130287/2015-6]; Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior [001]; Fundação Cearense de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico [BP3-0139-00323.01.00/18]; Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo [2016/13949-7].