Watch out where you sleep: nocturnal sleeping behaviour of Bay Island lizards
Sleeping exposes lizards to predation. Therefore, sleeping strategies must be directed towards avoiding predation and might vary among syntopic species. We studied sleeping site characteristics of two syntopic, congeneric lizards—the Bay Island forest lizard, Coryphophylax subcristatus and the short...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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PeerJ Inc.
2016-04-01
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| Series: | PeerJ |
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| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/1856.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797417966472527872 |
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| author | Nitya Prakash Mohanty Surendran Harikrishnan Karthikeyan Vasudevan |
| author_facet | Nitya Prakash Mohanty Surendran Harikrishnan Karthikeyan Vasudevan |
| author_sort | Nitya Prakash Mohanty |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Sleeping exposes lizards to predation. Therefore, sleeping strategies must be directed towards avoiding predation and might vary among syntopic species. We studied sleeping site characteristics of two syntopic, congeneric lizards—the Bay Island forest lizard, Coryphophylax subcristatus and the short-tailed Bay Island lizard, C. brevicaudus and evaluated inter-specific differences. We measured structural, microclimatic and potential predator avoidance at the sleeping perches of 386 C. subcristatus and 185 C. brevicaudus. Contrary to our expectation, we found similar perch use in both species. The lizards appeared to use narrow girth perch plants and accessed perches by moving both vertically and horizontally. Most lizards slept on leaves, with their heads directed towards the potential path of a predator approaching from the plant base. There was no inter-specific competition in the choices of sleeping perches. These choices indicate an anti-predator strategy involving both tactile and visual cues. This study provides insight into a rarely studied behaviour in reptiles and its adaptive significance. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:27:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b891bb763d714a47a96d0b545d9155a7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:27:11Z |
| publishDate | 2016-04-01 |
| publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PeerJ |
| spelling | doaj.art-b891bb763d714a47a96d0b545d9155a72023-12-03T11:19:08ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592016-04-014e185610.7717/peerj.1856Watch out where you sleep: nocturnal sleeping behaviour of Bay Island lizardsNitya Prakash Mohanty0Surendran Harikrishnan1Karthikeyan Vasudevan2Andaman & Nicobar Environmental Team, Wandoor, Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, IndiaCSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Laboratory for Conservation of Endangered Species, Hyderabad, Telangana, IndiaCSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Laboratory for Conservation of Endangered Species, Hyderabad, Telangana, IndiaSleeping exposes lizards to predation. Therefore, sleeping strategies must be directed towards avoiding predation and might vary among syntopic species. We studied sleeping site characteristics of two syntopic, congeneric lizards—the Bay Island forest lizard, Coryphophylax subcristatus and the short-tailed Bay Island lizard, C. brevicaudus and evaluated inter-specific differences. We measured structural, microclimatic and potential predator avoidance at the sleeping perches of 386 C. subcristatus and 185 C. brevicaudus. Contrary to our expectation, we found similar perch use in both species. The lizards appeared to use narrow girth perch plants and accessed perches by moving both vertically and horizontally. Most lizards slept on leaves, with their heads directed towards the potential path of a predator approaching from the plant base. There was no inter-specific competition in the choices of sleeping perches. These choices indicate an anti-predator strategy involving both tactile and visual cues. This study provides insight into a rarely studied behaviour in reptiles and its adaptive significance.https://peerj.com/articles/1856.pdfPredator avoidanceSite fidelityTactile cuesAgamid lizardsTropical islandsSleeping niches |
| spellingShingle | Nitya Prakash Mohanty Surendran Harikrishnan Karthikeyan Vasudevan Watch out where you sleep: nocturnal sleeping behaviour of Bay Island lizards PeerJ Predator avoidance Site fidelity Tactile cues Agamid lizards Tropical islands Sleeping niches |
| title | Watch out where you sleep: nocturnal sleeping behaviour of Bay Island lizards |
| title_full | Watch out where you sleep: nocturnal sleeping behaviour of Bay Island lizards |
| title_fullStr | Watch out where you sleep: nocturnal sleeping behaviour of Bay Island lizards |
| title_full_unstemmed | Watch out where you sleep: nocturnal sleeping behaviour of Bay Island lizards |
| title_short | Watch out where you sleep: nocturnal sleeping behaviour of Bay Island lizards |
| title_sort | watch out where you sleep nocturnal sleeping behaviour of bay island lizards |
| topic | Predator avoidance Site fidelity Tactile cues Agamid lizards Tropical islands Sleeping niches |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/1856.pdf |
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