Escape tactics by a neotropical montane lizard: a comparison of flight responses against natural and nonnatural predators

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• 作者：Stefânia P. R. Ventura ; Daniel C. Passos ; Leonardo L. Machado&#8230
• 关键词：Flight behaviour ; Escape decisions ; Predatory stimulus ; Tropiduridae
• 刊名：acta ethologica
• 出版年：2017
• 出版时间：February 2017
• 年：2017
• 卷：20
• 期：1
• 页码：9-15
• 全文大小：
• 刊物类别：Biomedical and Life Sciences
• 刊物主题：Behavioral Sciences; Zoology; Evolutionary Biology;
• 出版者：Springer Berlin Heidelberg
• ISSN：1437-9546
• 卷排序：20

文摘

Prey must judge the level of threat related to a given predator attack to employ the most efficient escape strategy at a low cost. In this context, the capacity of prey to correctly assess the threat from predators might optimise their decision on the strategy employed to flee. We examined the escape behaviour of the montane lizard Tropidurus montanus in response to different types of predatory stimuli. Lizards stimulated by a model of a natural predator ran shorter distances straight towards shelter and spent less time in flight. On the other hand, when exposed to a model of a nonnatural predator, T. montanus performed longer flights in distance and time, running across open and exposed substrates in the view of predators. These results showed that the lizard T. montanus made different escape decisions according to the type of predatory stimulus.