Effects of Tail Loss on Growth and Sprint Speed of Juvenile Eumeces fasciatus (Scincidae)

Abstract

Tail autotomy serves as an aid to escape predators in many lizards, but potential costs include loss of fat stores, impaired locomotion, loss of social status, and reduced growth and reproductive output. Two potential costs of tail loss were examined in juvenile skinks, Eumeces fasciatus, through manipulation in a laboratory study. Changes in growth and sprint speed were compared among full autotomy, partial autotomy, and control groups of lizards after these treatments at three weeks of age and up to four weeks later. Full tail autotomy was associated with increased growth in mass during the two weeks posttreatment and increased growth of the tail between two and four weeks posttreatment. No other measures of growth were affected by partial or full tail loss. Immediately following treatments, fully autotomized lizards became significantly slower, with respect to maximum sprint speed, relative to both other groups. However, this effect was gone by four weeks after tail loss.