Predation by lizards as a mortality source for juvenile lizards in Brazil

Abstract

Abstract Among mortality factors for juvenile lizards one of the most important is predation, either by individuals of different sympatric species or by individuals of the same species (cannibalism). We analyzed the available data in the literature regarding Brazilian lizards in order to evaluate the role of lizards as source of mortality for juvenile sympatric lizards, with emphasis on cannibalism. We found a total of eight species of juvenile lizards reported as prey of other sympatric lizard species, and six species of lizards that preyed on juvenile ones. Of the 13 records of predation on juvenile lizards, 46.1% were made by tropidurid lizards, 30.8% by teiids, and 23.1% by skinks. We found a total of 13 cases of cannibalism reported for nine species of lizards, with the frequency of occurrence varying from 0.7 to 3.8% in the sample of the lizards analyzed. Most cannibalistic lizards were males, which are the sex with the largest body size in most species, but in species of Mabuya, in which males are ...