Flight initiation distance of Urosaurus ornatus from the Sierra de Samalayuca, Mexico

Julio A Lemos-Espinal,Geoffrey R Smith

doi:10.36253/a_h-9843

Julio A Lemos-Espinal, Geoffrey R Smith

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.36253/a_h-9843

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Abstract

In lizards, flight initiation distance (FID), the distance between a prey individual and a predator when escape begins, can be affected by numerous intrinsic and extrinsic factors, including sex, temperature, and level of conspicuousness. Here we report on a study of FID in a population of Ornate Tree Lizards, Urosaurus ornatus, from the Sierra de Samalyuca, Chihuahua, Mexico which are cryptic due to their dorsal coloration blending into their background. Urosaurus ornatus in our study population allowed close approaches (mean FID = 65 cm). Mean FID did not differ between males and females. We also found no effect of body, air, or substrate temperature on FID. The short FID we observed may be related to the cryptic nature of U. ornatus.

Highlights

For many prey individuals one of the most important decisions that must be made when confronted with an approaching predator is when to begin their antipredator response, which for many prey is flight (Ydenberg and Dill, 1986)
We report on a field study of flight initiation distance (FID) in a population of Ornate Tree Lizards, Urosaurus ornatus, from the Sierra de Samalyuca, Chihuahua, Mexico
We examined whether body temperature and sex affect flight initiation distance

Summary

Introduction

For many prey individuals one of the most important decisions that must be made when confronted with an approaching predator is when to begin their antipredator response, which for many prey is flight (Ydenberg and Dill, 1986). FID can be affected by numerous intrinsic and extrinsic factors, including body and environmental temperature (e.g., Smith and Lemos-Espinal, 2005; Cooper et al, 2009; Braun et al, 2010; Cooper, 2011a); perch, habitat, or microhabitat characteristics (Cooper, 2003b; Cooper et al, 2009; Morris and Lattanzio, 2020), and sex (Vanhooydonck et al, 2007; Majláth and Majláthova, 2009; Salido and Vicente, 2019).

Results

Conclusion