Abstract
Newts and salamanders show remarkable diversity in antipredator behavior, developed to enhance their chemical defenses and/or aposematism. The present study reports on the antipredator behavior of newts (Cynops pyrrhogaster) in response to snakes. Newts displayed a significant amount of tail-wagging and tail-undulation in response to a contact stimulus from the snake’s tongue, which is a snake-specific predator stimulus, as compared to a control stimulus (behavioral scores: tongue, 1.05 ± 0.41; control, 0.15 ± 0.15). Newts that were kept in warm temperature conditions, 20°C (at which snakes are active in nature), performed tail displays more frequently than newts kept in low-temperature conditions, 4°C (at which snakes are inactive in nature). Our results suggest that the tail displays of C. pyrrhogaster could function as an antipredator defense; they direct a snake’s attention to its tail to prevent the snake from attacking more vulnerable body parts. We also discussed the reason for inter-populational variation in the tendency of newts to perform tail displays.
Highlights
Newts and salamanders have evolved remarkably diverse secondary defensive traits to avoid predation [1]
Our results suggest that the tail displays of C. pyrrhogaster could function as an antipredator defense; they direct a snake’s attention to its tail to prevent the snake from attacking more vulnerable body parts
Half (10) of the newts kept in low-temperature conditions performed the unken reflex and remaining individuals (9) performed locomotary escape in response to the predator stimulus, but their speed of escape was slower at 4 ̊C than at 20 ̊C
Summary
Newts and salamanders have evolved remarkably diverse secondary defensive traits to avoid predation [1]. Newts and salamanders from Salamandridae and Plethodontidae can change their antipredator behavior with changes in ambient temperature owing to the dependence of their running ability on their body temperature [5,6,7] and the activity patterns of their predators at different ambient temperatures [8]. Both biotic and abiotic environmental factors shape the antipredator behavior of newts and salamanders
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