Cooperate or compete? Influence of sex and body size on sheltering behaviour in the wall lizard, Podarcis muralis
In: BehaviourSearch for other papers by Fabien Aubret in
Current site
Google Scholar
Search for other papers by Mélodie Tort in
Current site
Google Scholar
Search for other papers by Radika J. Michniewicz in
Current site
Google Scholar
Search for other papers by Gaëlle Blanvillain in
Current site
Google Scholar
cCentre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, UMR 5175, Montpellier, France
Search for other papers by Aurélie Coulon in
Current site
Google Scholar
Reptile sheltering behaviour, despite profound life history ramifications, remains poorly investigated. Whether or not individuals share a suitable shelter or, conversely, exclude conspecifics may depend on associated costs (resource partitioning, sexual harassment, disease or parasite contamination) and benefits (predation risk dilution, thermal resilience, information sharing). We performed two experiments on field caught wall lizards (Podarcis muralis), a highly territorial species, to investigate the relative roles of sex and body size in night sheltering. In the first experiment, random pairs of lizards were offered two identical shelters. Lizards either shared a shelter, or sheltered separately. In the second experiment, different random pairs of lizards were offered only one shelter so as to elicit a share or compete response. Body size and sex both appeared as significant drivers for sheltering patterns. Unexpectedly, wall lizards often chose to share shelters. When only one shelter (too small to accommodate two adult lizards) was available, many lizards rejected the sheltering option in preference for aggregation. Such aggregative behaviour was not sex dependant, and may reflect thermoregulatory or anti-predatory benefits. Our results nevertheless suggest that cooperative behaviour may exist in wall lizards.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
-
Aleksiuk M. (1977). Cold-induced aggregative behaviour in the red-sided garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis). — Herpetologica 33: 98-101.
-
Ancona S., Drummond H., Zaldívar-Rae J. (2010). Male whiptail lizards adjust energetically costly mate guarding to male–male competition and female reproductive value. — Anim. Behav. 79: 75-82.
-
Aubret F., Shine R. (2009). Causes and consequences of aggregation by neonatal tigersnakes (Notechis scutatus, Elapidae). — Austral. Ecol. 34: 210-217.
-
Ballen C., Shine R., Olsson M. (2014). Effects of early social isolation on the behaviour and performance of juvenile lizards, Chamaeleo calyptratus. — Anim. Behav. 88: 1-6.
-
Barbault R., Mou Y.-P. (1988). Population dynamics of the common wall lizard, Podarcis muralis, in southwestern France. — Herpetologica 44: 38-47.
-
Barwick R.E. (1959). The life history of the common New Zealand skink Leiolopisma zelandica (Gray, 1843). — Trans. R. Soc. New Zeal. 86: 331-380.
-
Beck D.D., Jennings R.D. (2003). Habitat use by gila monsters: the importance of shelters. — Herpetol. Monogr. 17: 111-129.
-
Bull C.M. (2000). Monogamy in lizards. — Behav. Process. 51: 7-20.
-
Bull C.M., Griffin C.L., Lanham E.J., Johnston G.R. (2000). Recognition of pheromones from group members in a gregarious lizard, Egernia stokesii. — J. Herpetol. 34: 92-99.
-
Carazo P., Font E., Desfilis E. (2011). The role of scent marks in female choice of territories and refuges in a lizard (Podarcis hispanica). — J. Comp. Psychol. 125: 362-365.
-
Chapple D.G. (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: 145-180.
-
Chapple D.G., Keogh J.S. (2006). Group structure and stability in social aggregations of white’s skink, Egernia whitii. — Ethology 112: 247-257.
-
Clutton-Brock T.H., Albon S.D., Gibson R.M., Guinness F.E. (1979). The logical stag: adaptive aspects of fighting in red deer (Cervus elaphus L). — Anim. Behav. 27: 211-225.
-
Connell J.H. (1983). On the prevalence and relative importance of interspecific competition: evidence from field experiments. — Am. Nat. 122: 661-696.
-
Davis A.R., Corl A., Surget-Groba Y., Sinervo B. (2011). Convergent evolution of kin-based sociality in a lizard. — Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. B: Biol. Sci. 278: 1507-1514.
-
Doody J.S., Burghardt G.M., Dinets V. (2013). Breaking the social–non-social dichotomy: a role for reptiles in vertebrate social behaviour research? — Ethology 119: 1-9.
-
Downes S., Hoefer A.M. (2004). Antipredatory behaviour in lizards: interactions between group size and predation risk. — Anim. Behav. 67: 485-492.
-
Downes S., Shine R. (1998). Heat, safety or solitude? Using habitat selection experiments to identify a lizard’s priorities. — Anim. Behav. 55: 1387-1396.
-
Durand J., Legrand A., Tort M., Thiney A., Michniewicz R.J., Coulon A., Aubret F. (2012). Effects of geographic isolation on anti-snakes responses in the wall lizard, Podarcis muralis. — Amphibia-Reptilia 33: 199-206.
-
Edsman L. (1990). Territoriality and competition in wall lizards. — PhD dissertation, University of Stockholm, Stockholm.
-
Ferner J.W. (2007). A review of marking and individual recognition techniques for amphibians and reptiles. Herpetological Circulars 35. — Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Salt Lake City, UT.
-
Fox S.F., McCoy J.K., Baird T.A. (2003). Lizard social behaviour. — The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD.
-
Galeotti P., Pellitteri-Rosa D., Sacchi R., Gentilli A., Pupin F., Rubolini D., Fasola M. (2010). Sex-, morph- and size-specific susceptibility to stress measured by haematological variables in captive common wall lizard Podarcis muralis. — Comp. Biochem. Phys. A 157: 354-363.
-
Gardner M.G., Bull C.M., Cooper J.B., Duffield G.A. (2001). Genetic evidence for a family structure in stable social aggregations of the Australian lizard Egernia stokesii. — Mol. Ecol. 10: 175-183.
-
Greer A.E. (1989). The biology and evolution of Australian lizards. — Surrey Beatty, Chipping Norton.
-
Henle K. (1989). Population ecology and life history of the diurnal skink Morethia boulengeri in arid Australia. — Oecologia 78: 521-532.
-
Huang W.-S. (2006). Parental care in the long-tailed skink, Mabuya longicaudata, on a tropical Asian island. — Anim. Behav. 72: 791-795.
-
Kokko H., Rankin D.J. (2006). Lonely hearts or sex in the city? Density-dependent effects in mating systems? — Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond. B 36: 319-334.
-
Langkilde T., Shine R. (2004). Interspcific conflict influences retreat-site selection in montane lizards. — Oecologia 140: 684-691.
-
Langkilde T., Shine R. (2005). How do water skinks avoid shelters already occupied by other lizards? — Behaviour 142: 203-216.
-
Langkilde T., O’Connor D., Shine R. (2003). Shelter-site use by five species of montane scincid lizards in south-eastern Australia. — Aust. J. Zool. 51: 175-186.
-
Lanham E.J., Bull C.M. (2000). Maternal care and infanticide in the Australian skink, Egernia stokesii. — Herpetol. Rev. 31: 151-152.
-
Lanham E.J., Bull C.M. (2004). Enhanced vigilance in groups in Egernia stokesii, a lizard with stable social aggregations. — J. Zool. 263: 95-99.
-
Leal M., Powell B.J. (2012). Behavioural flexibility and problem-solving in a tropical lizard. — Biol. Lett. 8: 44-45.
-
Leu S.T., Bashford J., Kappeler P.M., Bull C.M. (2010). Association networks reveal social organization in the sleepy lizard. — Anim. Behav. 79: 217-225.
-
Leu S.T., Kappeler M., Bull C.M. (2011). The influence of refuge sharing on social behavior in the lizard Tiliqua rugosa. — Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 65: 837-847.
-
Lubin Y., Henschel J.R., Baker M.B. (2001). Costs of aggregation: shadow competition in a sit-and-wait predator. — Oikos 95: 59-68.
-
Masters C., Shine R. (2003). Sociality in lizards: family structure in free-living king’s skinks Egernia kingii from southwestern Australia. — Aust. Zool. 32: 377-380.
-
Milner-Gulland E.J. (2001). A dynamic game model for the decision to join an aggregation. — Ecol. Model. 145: 85-99.
-
Mouton P.leF.N. (2011). Aggregation behaviour of lizards in the arid western regions of South Africa. — Afr. J. Herpetol. 60: 155-170.
-
Mouton P.leF.N., Flemming A.F., Kanga E.M. (1999). Grouping behavior, tail-biting behavior and sexual dimorphism in the armadillo lizard (Cordylus cataphractus) from South Africa. — J. Zool. Lond. 249: 1-10.
-
O’Connor D., Shine R. (2003). Lizards in ‘nuclear families’: a novel reptilian social system in Egernia saxatilis (Scincidae). — Mol. Ecol. 12: 743-752.
-
O’Connor D., Shine R. (2006). Kin discrimination in the social lizard Egernia saxatilis (Scincidae). — Behav. Ecol. 17: 206-211.
-
Pianka E.R., Vitt L.J. (2003). Lizards: windows to the evolution of diversity. — University of California Press, Berkeley, CA.
-
Qi Y., Noble D.W.A., Fu J., Whiting M.J. (2012). Spatial and social organization in a burrow-dwelling lizard (Phrynocephalus vlangalii) from China. — PloS One 7: e41130.
-
R Core Team (2012). R: a language and environment for statistical computing. — R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, available online at http://www.R-project.org/.
-
Rifkin J.L., Nunn C.L., Garamszegi L.Z. (2012). Do animals living in larger groups experience greater parasitism? A meta-analysis. — Am. Nat. 180: 70-82.
-
Sacchi R., Pupin F., Gentilli A., Rubolini D., Scali S., Fasola M., Galeotti P. (2009). Male–male combats in a polymorphic lizard: residency and size, but not color, affect fighting rules and contest outcome. — Aggr. Behav. 35: 274-283.
-
Seppänen J.-T., Forsman J.T., Mönkkönen M., Thomson R.L. (2007). Social information use is a process across time, space, and ecology, reaching heterospecifics. — Ecology 88: 1622-1633.
-
Shah B., Shine R., Hudson S., Kearney M. (2003). Sociality in lizards: why do thick-tailed geckos (Nephrurus milii) aggregate? — Behaviour 140: 1039-1052.
-
Sinervo B., Lively C.M. (1996). The rock-paper-scissors game and the evolution of alternative male strategies. — Nature 380: 240-243.
-
Sinervo B., Heulin B., Surget-Groba Y., Clobert J., Miles D.B., Corl A., Chaine A., Davis A. (2007). Models of density-dependent genic selection and a new rock–paper–scissors social system. — Am. Nat. 170: 663-680.
-
Sinn D.L., While G.M., Wapstra E. (2008). Maternal care in a social lizard: links between female aggression and offspring fitness. — Anim. Behav. 76: 1249-1257.
-
Stamps J.A. (1977). The relationship between resource competition, risk, and aggression in a tropical territorial lizard. — Ecology 58: 349-358.
-
Stow A.J., Sunnucks P. (2004). High mate and site fidelity in Cunningham’s skinks (Egernia cunninghami) in natural and fragmented habitat. — Mol. Ecol. 13: 419-430.
-
Torr G.A., Shine R. (1996). Patterns of dominance in the small scincid lizard Lampropholis guichenoti. — J. Herpetol. 30: 230-237.
-
Towns D.R. (1975). Ecology of the black shore skink Leiolopisma suteri (Lacertilia: Scincidae) in boulder beach habitats. — New Zeal. J. Zool. 2: 389-407.
-
Visagie L., Mouton P., Bauwens D. (2005). Experimental analysis of grouping behaviour in cordylid lizards. — Herpetol. J. 15: 91-96.
-
While G.M., Uller T., Wapstra E. (2009). Within-population variation in social strategies characterize the social and mating system of an Australian lizard, Egernia whitii. — Austral Ecol. 34: 938-949.
-
Whitaker A.H. (1968a). The lizards of the Poor Knights Islands, New Zealand. — New Zeal. J. Sci. 11: 623-651.
-
Whitaker A.H. (1968b). Leiolopisma suteri (Boulenger), an oviparous skink in New Zealand. — New Zeal. J. Sci. 11: 425-432.
-
Whitaker A.H. (1973). Lizard populations on islands with and without Polynesian rats, Rattus exulans (Peale). — Proc. New Zeal. Ecol. Soc. 20: 121-130.
-
Wilkinson A., Kuenstner K., Mueller J., Huber L. (2010). Social learning in a nonsocial reptile (Geochelone carbonaria). — Biol. Lett. 6: 614-616.
-
Wilson S.K., Knowles D.G. (1988). Australia’s reptiles: a photographic reference to the terrestrial reptiles of Australia. — Collins Publishers, Sydney, NSW.
Cooperate or compete? Influence of sex and body size on sheltering behaviour in the wall lizard, Podarcis muralis
In: BehaviourSearch for other papers by Fabien Aubret in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Mélodie Tort in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Radika J. Michniewicz in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Gaëlle Blanvillain in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
cCentre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, UMR 5175, Montpellier, France
Search for other papers by Aurélie Coulon in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Reptile sheltering behaviour, despite profound life history ramifications, remains poorly investigated. Whether or not individuals share a suitable shelter or, conversely, exclude conspecifics may depend on associated costs (resource partitioning, sexual harassment, disease or parasite contamination) and benefits (predation risk dilution, thermal resilience, information sharing). We performed two experiments on field caught wall lizards (Podarcis muralis), a highly territorial species, to investigate the relative roles of sex and body size in night sheltering. In the first experiment, random pairs of lizards were offered two identical shelters. Lizards either shared a shelter, or sheltered separately. In the second experiment, different random pairs of lizards were offered only one shelter so as to elicit a share or compete response. Body size and sex both appeared as significant drivers for sheltering patterns. Unexpectedly, wall lizards often chose to share shelters. When only one shelter (too small to accommodate two adult lizards) was available, many lizards rejected the sheltering option in preference for aggregation. Such aggregative behaviour was not sex dependant, and may reflect thermoregulatory or anti-predatory benefits. Our results nevertheless suggest that cooperative behaviour may exist in wall lizards.