13.07.2015 Views

Herpetological Review Herpetological Review - Doczine

Herpetological Review Herpetological Review - Doczine

Herpetological Review Herpetological Review - Doczine

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

Long-tailed Weasel (Mustela frenata) in southeastern Utah.At 1051 h on 19 August 2007, in the valley of Indian Creek, SanJuan Co., Utah, USA (38.0523°N, 109.5587°W, datum: WGS84;elev. 1697 m), I observed a M. frenata moving from an open areaof compacted sand to the cover of a Greasewood (Sarcobatusvermiculatus) shrub, ca. 40 m W of the intermittent stream channelof Indian Creek. Air temperature was ca. 27°C and cloud coverwas 60%. Vegetation was dominated by Big Sagebrush (Artemisiatridentata), Greasewood, and Four–wing Saltbush (Atriplexcanescens). I observed the weasel through 10× binoculars from adistance of ca. 3 m. The weasel seemed aware of my presence asits gaze was fixed in my direction. After ca. 1 min of observation,the weasel darted from the shrub in pursuit of an adult(ca. 7 cm SVL) A. velox that I had not previously noticed. Thelizard maneuvered in a series of rapid zigzag movements up–slopeand away from where the weasel had appeared, making at leastfour abrupt (ca. 90°) turns over a distance of ca. 4 m. The weaselseemed to follow closely, tracing each abrupt turn of the lizard,but the speed of the pursuit made it impossible to ascertain frommy position whether the weasel was gaining on the lizard or thelizard was gaining distance from the weasel. The weasel gave upchase after ca. 4 m and returned rapidly to the shrub from which ithad emerged, where it apparently entered a burrow and disappearedfrom sight. As the weasel gave up the chase, the lizard crested asmall rise in the slope, leaving my field of view. Based on therecording times of photographs taken during the chase, the chaselasted ca. 26 sec.Because the weasel was aware of my presence prior to chasingthe lizard it may have been motivated to terminate the chase earlierthan it would have otherwise. However, Long-tailed Weaselshave been reported to continue apparently normal foraging behavioreven in front of large groups of people (e.g., Hamilton 1933.Am. Midl. Nat. 14:289–344). Long-tailed Weasels are regardedas generalist predators even though they eat primarily small rodents,and only rarely take lizards (Sheffield and Thomas 1997.Mamm. Species 570:1–9). Predation attempts, successful or otherwise,by M. frenata on A. velox have not been previously reported.Whiptail lizards are known for their speed and evasiveabilities, and being notoriously difficult for humans to capture isthe origin for the species name “velox” (Springer 1928. Copeia169:100–104; Stuart 1998. Cat. Am. Amphib. Rept. 656:1–6). Thisobservation suggests that the rapid zigzag escape strategy of A.velox is effective in avoiding capture by other mammalian predatorsas well.Submitted by RYAN P. O’DONNELL, Department of Biologyand the Ecology Center, 5305 Old Main Hill, Utah State University,Logan, Utah 84322–5305, USA; e-mail:Ryan@biology.usu.edu.COLEODACTYLUS NATALENSIS (NCN). CLUTCH SIZE;HATCHLING SIZE. Coleodactylus natalensis is a small lizardendemic to the Atlantic Forest of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil(Freire 1999. Bol. Mus. Nac. 399:1–14). Clutch size is not known,but its geographically proximate congener, C. meridionalis, has aone-egg clutch (Vanzolini et al. 1980. Répteis das Caatingas. Acad.Bras. de Ciênc. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 161 pp.). Here, we providean observation of clutch size and hatchling size in C. natalensis.At 1630 on 24 January 2006, PAGS collected two eggs of C.natalensis ca. 1 m apart among leaf litter in a 30-cm deep cavityin a large rock (ca. 1 m 2 ) at the Estação Experimental RommelMesquita de Faria (Mata do Jiquí; 5.9305°S, 35.1814°W; datum:WGS84; elev. 40 m), an Atlantic Forest fragment on an EMPARN(Empresa de Pesquisas Agropecuárias do Rio Grande do Norte)farm of 79 ha in the of municipality Parnamirim. These data andfield observations of females carrying one egg (CMCAL, pers.obs.) indicates that this species likely has a fixed clutch size of asingle egg.The eggs were placed in a terrarium (20 cm × 12 cm × 20 cm)with a substrate of sand and leaf-litter, and maintained atLaboratório de Herpetologia, in the Departamento de Botânica,Ecologia e Zoologia in Universidade Federal do Rio Grande doNorte) at an ambient temperature averaging about 25°C, but whichvaried between 24°C and 32°C over the incubation period. On 6March 2006 (41 days after collection), one juvenile emerged.Measurements were SVL: 11 mm; tail length: 0.8 mm; foreleglength: 3.1 mm; fourth finger: 0.4 mm; hindleg length: 3.6 mm;fourth toe: 0.7 mm; head length: 2.9 mm; head width: 2.0 mm;jaw length: 1.6 mm; head height: 1.1 mm; body width: 2.2 mm;pelvis width; 1.3 mm; axilla–groin length: 4.4 mm; and mass: 0.024g. This is the first record of hatchling size in C. natalensis.The specimen (CHBEZ 1504) was deposited in the <strong>Herpetological</strong>Collection of Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte(CHBEZ), municipality of Natal. We thank two anonymous reviewersfor suggestions on the manuscript. Conselho Nacional deDesenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) provided researchgrants to LBR (process 141993/2006-5) and to PAGS (process107762/2006-4).Submitted by CAROLINA M. C. A. LISBOA 1, 2 , PABLOAUGUSTO GURGEL DE SOUSA 2 , LEONARDO B.RIBEIRO 3 , and ELIZA M. X. FREIRE 2 ; 1 Programa de Pós–Graduação em Ciências Biológicas, Centro de Biociências,Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, 59072–970, Natal,RN, Brazil; 2 Departamento de Botânica, Ecologia e Zoologia,Centro de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande doNorte, 59072–970, Natal, RN, Brazil; 3 Programa de Pós–Graduação em Psicobiologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grandedo Norte, Centro de Biociências, Departamento de Fisiologia,Caixa Postal 1511, 59078–970, Natal, RN, Brazil; e-mail(CMCAL): carolisboabio@yahoo.com.br; (PAGS):pabloguitar2@hotmail.com; (LBR): ribeiro.lb@gmail.com;(EMXF): elizajuju@ufrnet.br.CYCLURA CYCHLURA CYCHLURA (Andros Iguana).ATTEMPED PREDATION. Shifts in prey size may reflect severalprocesses including limitations on gape (Shine and Sun 2003.Funct. Ecol. 17:340–348). Alternatively, rather than the ability tophysically ingest prey, limitations may reflect a predator’s abilityto capture, kill, or digest prey of different sizes. Few field accountsexist demonstrating a snake’s ability to dispatch but not ingestprey (but see Sabo and Ku 2004. Herpetol. Rev. 35:396–397). Thefew reports of failed predation attempts may reflect a combinationof the inability to record them without direct observation andbias against reporting unsuccessful predation events even thoughsuch events can inform aspects of species-specific predation be-<strong>Herpetological</strong> <strong>Review</strong> 39(2), 2008 221

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!