Why is the tongue of blue-tongued skinks blue? Reflectance of lingual surface and its consequences for visual perception by conspecifics and predators

详细信息    查看全文

• 作者：Andran Abramjan ; Anna Bauerová ; Barbora Somerová ; Daniel Frynta
• 关键词：Coloration ; Signaling ; Lizards ; Evolution ; Tiliqua
• 刊名：Naturwissenschaften
• 出版年：2015
• 出版时间：August 2015
• 年：2015
• 卷：102
• 期：7-8
• 全文大小：1,642 KB
• 参考文献：Abbate F, Latella G, Montalbano G, Guerrera MC, Germana GP, Levanti MB (2009) The lingual dorsal surface of the blue-tongue skink (Tiliqua scincoides). Anat Histol Embryol 38(5):348-50View Article PubMed
  Andersson S, ?rnborg J, Andersson M (1998) Ultraviolet sexual dimorphism and assortative mating in blue tits. P Roy Soc Lond B 265:445-50View Article
  Aumann T (2001) An intraspecific and interspecific comparison of raptor diets in the south-west of the Northern Territory, Australia. Wildlife Res 28(4):379-93View Article
  Ayala-Varela FP, Omar TC (2010) A new species of dactyloid anole (Iguanidae, Polychrotinae, Anolis) from the southeastern slopes of the Andes of Ecuador. Zookeys 53:59-3View Article PubMed
  Bagnara JT, Fernandez PJ, Fujii R (2007) On the blue coloration of vertebrates. Pigm Cell Res 20(1):14-6View Article
  Bajer K, Molnár O, T?r?k J, Herczeg G (2011) Ultraviolet nuptial color determines fight success in male European green lizards (Lacerta viridis). Biol Lett 7:866-68PubMed Central View Article PubMed
  Brown D (2012) A guide to Australian skinks in captivity. ABK/Reptile, Burleigh
  Burkhardt D (1989) UV vision: a bird’s eye view of feathers. J Comp Physiol A 164:787-96View Article
  Bustard HR (1964) Defensive behavior shown by Australian geckos, genus Diplodactylus. Herpetologica 20(3):198-00
  Carpenter CC, Murphy JB (1978) Tongue display by the common bluetongue (Tiliqua scincoides) Reptilia, Lacertilia, Scincidae. J Herpetol 12(3):428-29View Article
  Cassey P, Ewen JG, Marshall NJ, Vorobyev M, Blackburn TM, Hauber ME (2009) Are avian eggshell colors effective intraspecific communication signals in the Muscicapoidea? A perceptual modelling approach. Ibis 151:689-98View Article
  Chapple DG (2003) Ecology, life-history, and behavior in the Australian scincid genus Egernia, with comments on the evolution of complex sociality in lizards. Herpetol Monogr 17(1):145-80View Article
  Cogger HG (2014) Reptiles and amphibians of Australia, 7th edn. Csiro, Sydney
  Couldridge VC, Alexander GJ (2002) Color patterns and species recognition in four closely related species of Lake Malawi cichlid. Behav Ecol 13(1):59-4View Article
  Creel S, Creel NM (2002) The African wild dog: behavior, ecology, and conservation. Princeton University Press, Princeton
  Deeb SS (2010) Visual pigments and colour vision in marsupials and monotremes. In: Deakin JE, Waters PD, Graves JAM (eds) Marsupial genetics and genomics. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 403-14View Article
  Endler JA (1990) On the measurement and classification of colour in studies of animal colour patterns. Biol J Linn Soc 41:315-52View Article
  Endler JA (1992) Signals, signal conditions, and the direction of evolution. Am Nat 139:S125–S153View Article
  Endler JA, Mielke PW (2005) Comparing entire color patterns as birds see them. Biol J Linn Soc 86:405-31View Article
  Fenner AL, Pavey CR, Bull CM (2012) Behavioural observations and use of burrow systems by an endangered Australian arid-zone lizard, Slater’s skink (Liopholis slateri). Aust J Zool 60(2):127-32View Article
  Fernald RD, Hirata NR (1977) Field study of Haplochromis burtoni: quantitative behavioural observations. Anim Behav 25:964-75View Article
  Fitzsimons JA (2011) Predation on a blotched bluetongue lizard (Tiliqua nigrolutea) by a Highlands copperhead (Austrelaps ramsayi) in the Blue Mountains, Australia. Herpetol Notes 4:259-60
  Fleay D (1950) Goannas: giant lizards of the Australian bush. Anim Kingdom 53:92-6
  Fleishman LJ, Loew ER, Whiting MJ (2011) High sensitivity to short wavelengths in a lizard and implications for understanding the evolution of visual systems in lizards. Proc Biol Sci 278:2891-899PubMed Central View Article PubMed
  Fleishman LJ, Loew ER, Leal M (1993) Ultraviolet vision in lizards. Nature 365:397View Article
  Font E, Pérez I, De Lanuza G, Sampedro C (2009) Ultraviolet reflectance and cryptic sexual dichromatism in the ocellated lizard, Lacerta (Timon) lepida (Squamata: Lacertidae). Biol J Linn Soc 97:766-80View Article
  Gardner MG, Hugall AF, Donnellan SC, Hutchinson MN, Foster R (2008) Molecular systematics of social skinks: phylogeny and taxonomy of the Egernia group (Reptilia: Scincidae). Zool J Linn Soc 154(4):781-94View Article
  Godfrey SS, Bradley JK, Sih A, Bull CM (2012) Lovers and fighters in sleepy lizard land: where do aggressive males fit in a social network? Anim Behav 83:209-15View Article
  Gomez D (2006) AVICOL, a program to analyse spectrometric data. Last update October 2013. Free executable available at http://?sites.?google.?com/?site/?avicolprogram/-/span>
  Graves BM, Halpern M (1991) Discrimination of self from conspecific chemical cues in Tiliqua scincoides (Sauria: Scincidae). J Herpetol 25(1):125-26View Article
  Hamilton DG, Whiting MJ, Pryke SR (2013) Fiery frills: carotenoid-based coloration predicts contest success in frillneck lizards. Beh
• 作者单位：Andran Abramjan (1)
  Anna Bauerová (1)
  Barbora Somerová (1)
  Daniel Frynta (1)
  
  1. Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Vini?ná 7, Praha 2, Prague, 128 43, Czech Republic
  
• 刊物类别：Biomedical and Life Sciences
• 刊物主题：Life Sciences
  Life Sciences
  Environment
  
• 出版者：Springer Berlin / Heidelberg
• ISSN：1432-1904

文摘

Blue-tongued skinks of the genus Tiliqua (Scincidae) are characterized by their large blue melanin-pigmented tongues, often displayed during open-mouth threats, when the animal feels endangered. It is not clear whether this unusual coloration is a direct anti-predation adaptation or it may rather serve intraspecific communication, as ultraviolet-blue color is a frequent visual signal in a number of lizard species. We used spectrophotometry and visual modeling to compare blue tongues of Tiliqua gigas with tongues and skin coloration of other lizard species, and to examine their appearance through the eyes of both the conspecifics and avian predators. Our results show that (1) the tongue coloration is probably not substantially influenced by the amount of melanin in the skin, (2) lingual and oral tissues are UV-reflective in general, with blue colored tongues having chromatic qualities similar to UV-blue skin patches of other lizard species, (3) UV-blue tongues are more conspicuous than pink tongues, especially in the visual model of conspecifics. We hypothesize that blue tongues may possibly serve as a semantic (honest) signal analogous to UV-blue skin patches of other lizard species due to greater UV-bias in the vision of diurnal lizards. Regarding the social behavior and high aggressiveness in Tiliqua and their relatives, such signal might serve, e.g., in intraspecific long-distance communication between conspecifics in order to avoid aggression, and its anti-predation effect may only be a secondary function (exaptation).