Unsuspected pollinator potential? First DNA dietary analysis in Euleptes europaea (Gené, 1839) and confirmation of an omnivorous diet using video surveillance
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Abstract
DNA analysis of the faeces of wild animals is a major step towards our understanding of the dietary requirements of cryptic and sometimes threatened species. The presence of digested and liquefied matter undetectable to the naked eye can be identified and used to detect the presence of plant resources. Validating the consumption of plant material is tricky and often controversial, as it may have been taken unintentionally while hunting prey. Here, we present the very first dietary DNA metabarcoding analysis of the gecko Euleptes europaea. We identified one class and three orders of Arthropoda, and two classes of plants. To validate the results of plant presence, we set up a novel feeding selectivity protocol, followed by video surveillance in the wild. We offered four plant resources, two of which were close relatives to the found metabacoded taxa. While a food selectivity protocol combined with DNA analysis validated the consumption of plant resources, they showed that these geckos had a preference for plant pollen but refused other sweet resources. These results raise the possibility of a pollinating role of this gecko, which can sometimes be the only vertebrate to inhabiting the smallest islets in the Mediterranean Sea.
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Unsuspected pollinator potential? First DNA dietary analysis in Euleptes europaea (Gené, 1839) and confirmation of an omnivorous diet using video surveillance
In: Amphibia-ReptiliaSearch for other papers by Grégory Deso in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Thierry Reynier in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Catarina Rato in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
DNA analysis of the faeces of wild animals is a major step towards our understanding of the dietary requirements of cryptic and sometimes threatened species. The presence of digested and liquefied matter undetectable to the naked eye can be identified and used to detect the presence of plant resources. Validating the consumption of plant material is tricky and often controversial, as it may have been taken unintentionally while hunting prey. Here, we present the very first dietary DNA metabarcoding analysis of the gecko Euleptes europaea. We identified one class and three orders of Arthropoda, and two classes of plants. To validate the results of plant presence, we set up a novel feeding selectivity protocol, followed by video surveillance in the wild. We offered four plant resources, two of which were close relatives to the found metabacoded taxa. While a food selectivity protocol combined with DNA analysis validated the consumption of plant resources, they showed that these geckos had a preference for plant pollen but refused other sweet resources. These results raise the possibility of a pollinating role of this gecko, which can sometimes be the only vertebrate to inhabiting the smallest islets in the Mediterranean Sea.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 227 | 227 | 15 |
| Full Text Views | 8 | 8 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 195 | 195 | 46 |