Responses to prey chemicals by a lacertid lizard,Podarcis muralis: Prey chemical discrimination and poststrike elevation in tongue-flick rate

1991 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 849-863 ◽  
Author(s):  
William E. Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Tongue Flick ◽  
Podarcis Muralis ◽  
Lacertid Lizard ◽  
Prey Chemicals ◽  
Chemical Discrimination

Prey chemical discrimination by a diploglossine lizard, the giant Hispaniolan galliwasp (Celestus warreni)

2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Cooper ◽  
Kelly Bradley
Keyword(s):  
Composite Index ◽  
Response Strength ◽  
Tongue Flick ◽  
Foraging Mode ◽  
Plant Chemical ◽  
Prey Chemicals ◽  
Chemical Discrimination ◽  
Active Forager ◽  
Tongue Flicking ◽  
And Control

AbstractPrey chemical discrimination, the ability to respond differentially to prey chemicals and control stimuli, enables many squamate reptiles to locate and identify prey using chemical cues sampled by tongue-flicking and analyzed by vomerolfaction. Among lizards this ability is limited to species that are active foragers having insectivorous/carnivorous diets and to omnivores and herbivores, even those derived from ancestral ambush foragers. We experimentally studied responses by hatchlings of giant Hispaniolan galliwasps, Celestus warreni, which appear to have a strict animal diet and are putatively active foragers, to prey chemicals and control substances. More individuals tongue-flicked in the cricket condition than the water condition. Response strength indicated by the tongue-flick attack score, a composite index of response strength based on number of tongue-flicks, biting (one lizard) and latency to bite, was greater in response to cricket stimuli than plant (lettuce) stimuli, cologne or distilled water. Thus, the galliwasps exhibited prey chemical discrimination. Celestus warreni, the first representative of Diploglossinae to be tested, exhibits chemosensory behavior similar to that of other anguids. Although no quantitative data on foraging mode are available, another diploglossine, Diploglossus vittatus, is an active forager. The limitation of prey chemical discrimination to active foragers among lizards with animal diets lend further support to the likelihood that C. warreni is an active forager. The galliwasps did not exhibit plant chemical discrimination.

Omnivorous lacertid lizards (Gallotia) from El Hierro, Canary Islands, can identify prey and plant food using only chemical cues

2001 ◽  
Vol 79 (5) ◽  
pp. 881-887 ◽  
Author(s):  
William E Cooper, Jr. ◽  
Valentín Pérez-Mellado
Keyword(s):  
Tomato Fruit ◽  
Tongue Flick ◽  
Plant Food ◽  
El Hierro ◽  
Plant Chemical ◽  
Lacertid Lizards ◽  
Chemical Discrimination ◽  
Chemical Stimuli ◽  
Tongue Flicking ◽  
The One

We studied lingual and biting responses to food chemicals by two species of omnivorous lacertid lizards, the Canary Island endemics Gallotia simonyi (the giant lizard of El Hierro) and Gallotia caesaris (Boettger's lizard), to ascertain their ability to discriminate between prey and plant food chemicals on the one hand and control stimuli on the other. We recorded frequencies of tongue-flicking and latency to bite in 60-s trials in which chemical stimuli on cotton-tipped applicators were presented to the lizards. Both species exhibited prey-chemical discrimination, as indicated by elevated tongue-flick rates and higher proportions of individuals biting in response to surface chemicals from crickets. Both species exhibited plant-chemical discrimination, as indicated by significantly greater tongue-flick rates and biting frequency in response to chemicals from tomato fruit than to the control stimuli. Juvenile G. simonyi responded much more strongly to chemical stimuli from tomato fruit than from leaves of Psoralea bituminosa, which is not a preferred food for juveniles. The findings are consistent with the hypothesis that chemosensory discrimination evolves in omnivorous lizards to permit evaluation of food quality, resulting in correspondence between plant diet and plant-chemical discrimination, both being absent in insectivores. The results are also consistent with the hypothesis that prey-chemical discrimination is retained and plant-chemical discrimination evolves in the omnivorous lizards derived from actively foraging insectivores.

Do lingual behaviors and locomotion by two gekkotan lizards after experimental loss of bitten prey indicate chemosensory search?

1996 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 217-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher S. DePerno ◽  
William E. Cooper ◽  
Laura J. Steele
Keyword(s):  
Vomeronasal System ◽  
Foraging Mode ◽  
Gekko Gecko ◽  
Leopard Gecko ◽  
Prey Chemicals ◽  
Chemical Discrimination ◽  
Tokay Gecko ◽  
Tongue Flicking ◽  
Ambush Foraging ◽  
Tongue Flicks

AbstractPoststrike elevation in tongue-flicking rate (PETF) and strike-induced chemosensory searching (SICS) were assessed experimentally in two species of gekkonoid lizards belonging to families differing in foraging mode. PETF is an increase in rate of lingual protrusions after a prey item has been bitten and escapes or is removed from the mouth of a squamate reptile, whereas SICS is PETF combined with locomotory searching behavior. Eublepharis mucularius, the leopard gecko, is an actively, albeit slowly, foraging eublepharid. This species exhibited PETF for a duration of about five minutes based on total lingual protrusions. Labial-licks were initially much more frequent than tongue-flicks. A substantial increase in movement occurred during minutes 5-8, hinting that SICS might be present, but was not quite significant. SICS is likely present, as in other actively foraging lizards, but was not conclusively demonstrated. Handling the lizards induced increased locomotion in both the experimental condition and a control condition, presumably accounting for the apparent delay in onset of increased movement. The tokay gecko, Gekko gecko, a gekkonid ambush forager, performed no tongue-flicks, but exhibited PETF based on labial-licks during the first minute. SICS was absent. These findings support the hypothesis that SICS is absent in ambush foraging lizards, which do not use the lingual-vomeronasal system to search for prey. They are suggestive, but equivocal regarding the hypothesis that SICS is present in actively foraging lizards that exhibit lingually mediated prey chemical discrimination. The finding of PETF in G. gecko suggests that this species and several iguanians previously found to increase rates of labial-licking after biting prey may be able to detect prey chemicals.

scholarly journals Studies on gastrointestinal helminth of three Lacertid Lizard species, Podarcis muralis, Podarcis siculus and Ophisops elegans (Sauria: Lacertidae) from Bursa, North-Western Turkey

2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 310-318
Author(s):  
H. S. Yildirimhan ◽  
N. Sümer
Keyword(s):  
Lizard Species ◽  
Podarcis Muralis ◽  
Western Turkey ◽  
Gastrointestinal Helminth ◽  
Lacertid Lizard ◽  
Podarcis Siculus ◽  
Plagiorchis Elegans ◽  
North Western ◽  
Ophisops Elegans

SummaryA total of 80 specimens of three species of lacertid Podarcis muralis (39), Podarcis siculus (18) and Ophisops elegans (23) from Bursa were examined for helminths. One species of Digenea, Plagiorchis elegans, 1 species of Cestoda, Mesocestoides sp. (tetrathyridium); and 3 species of Nematoda, Skrjabinodon medinae, Spauligodon saxicolae and Skrjabinelazia hoffmanni were found. The helminths reported in this study are generalist helminths that infect a number of lizards.

scholarly journals Chemical discrimination of pesticide-treated grapes by lizards (Gallotia galloti palmae, Fam. Lacertidae)

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nieves Rosa Yanes-Marichal ◽  
Angel Fermín Francisco-Sánchez ◽  
Miguel Molina-Borja
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Cultivated Plants ◽  
Tongue Flick ◽  
Pesticide Treatment ◽  
La Palma ◽  
Untreated Water ◽  
Chemical Discrimination ◽  
Different Response ◽  
Tongue Flicks ◽  
Gallotia Galloti

Lizards from the Canary Islands may act as pests of several cultivated plants. As a case in point, vineyard farmers often complain about the lizards’ impact on grapes. Though no specific pesticide is used for lizards, several pesticides are used in vineyards to control for insects, fungi, etc. We therefore tested whether lizards (Gallotia galloti palmae) could detect and discriminate pesticide-treated from untreated grapes. To answer this question, we performed experiments with adults of both sexes obtained from three localities in La Palma Island. Two of them were a vineyard and a banana plantation that had been treated with pesticides and the other one was in a natural (untreated) site. In the laboratory, lizards were offered simultaneously one untreated (water sprayed) and one treated (with Folithion 50 LE, diluted to 0.1%) grape placed on small plates. The behaviour of the lizards towards the fruits was filmed and subsequently quantified by means of their tongue-flick, licks or bite rates to each of the grapes. Results showed that only lizards from the natural (untreated) site clearly differentiated the two types of grapes, performing significantly more tongue-flicks, licks and bites to the untreated than to the pesticide-treated grapes. Lizards captured at the other two sites (cultivated fields with pesticide treatment), did not show a significantly different response to the two types of grapes. These results suggest that lizards living in or near cultivated fields may be habituated to pesticide-treated food and, therefore, do not clearly discriminate treated from untreated food items. However, another possibility is that natural selection (or maybe resistance) could be responsible by these individuals in the populations showing this kind of pesticide insensitiveness.

Responses to prey and plant chemicals by three iguanian lizards: relationship to plants in the diet

2001 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 349-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Espinoza ◽  
Jason Habegger ◽  
William Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Ceramic Tiles ◽  
Plant Chemical ◽  
Plant Chemicals ◽  
Prey Chemicals ◽  
Chemical Discrimination ◽  
Chemical Stimuli ◽  
And Control

AbstractWe examined responses of three iguanian lizards, the phrynosomatid Sceloporus poinsettii and the tropidurids Tropidurus hispidus and Phymaturus punae, to prey chemicals and plant chemicals. When chemical stimuli were presented on cotton swabs or on ceramic tiles, neither S. poinsettii nor T. hispidus discriminated among prey, plant, and control stimuli. In contrast, an individual of P. punae discriminated both prey and plant chemicals from control stimuli in swab tests, typically biting swabs bearing prey or plant cues. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that plant chemical discrimination evolves in herbivorous iguanians such as P. punae. Sceloporus poinsettii, which appears to be entirely insectivorous at some times, but eats substantial quantities of flowers at others, did not discriminate among the stimuli. Because all previously tested herbivores and omnivores responded strongly to prey and plant chemicals, the absence of such discriminations by S. poinsettii raises questions about the degree and regularity of herbivory that may be required for plant chemical discrimination to evolve. The results extend the absence of prey chemical discrimination in ambush foragers to T. hispidus.

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