Social networks in the Little Scrub Island ground lizard (Ameiva corax)

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• 作者：Douglas Eifler ; Maria Eifler ; Keoleboge Malela ; Jackie Childers
• 刊名：Journal of Ethology
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：September 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：34
• 期：3
• 页码：343-348
• 全文大小：478 KB
• 刊物类别：Biomedical and Life Sciences
• 刊物主题：Life Sciences
  Zoology
  Behavioural Sciences
  Animal Ecology
  Evolutionary Biology
  Neurosciences
  
• 出版者：Springer Japan
• ISSN：1439-5444
• 卷排序：34

文摘

Ameiva corax is a diurnal, widely foraging lizard endemic to a small (<2 ha) Caribbean island and is known for social foraging, whereby individuals aggregate at large food items (e.g., bird eggs and cactus fruits). We characterized the social network for A. corax through focal observations and surveys, which delineated associations for 82 known individuals. Lizards varied greatly in the extent to which they were linked to the social network. Approximately 31 % of individuals were not observed in any associations while one individual associated with 22 % (n = 18) of the animals in the study area. Larger lizards tended to be more central to the social network; body size was positively correlated with number of associations (degree) and centrality (betweenness), but negatively correlated with average distance between an individual and its associates (mean path length). Larger individuals were also associated with lower clustering coefficients, indicating that their associates were less closely interconnected. Sex was not related to number of associations (degree), but did help explain some patterns. The extent to which a lizard’s associates were of the same sex (homophily) was related to both sex and body size. Females had lower homophily scores than males; within each sex larger lizards tended to have lower homophily.KeywordsAssociationNetwork analysisReptileSocial structureHomophily