Summary
Two central Chile lizards differ in their response to the approach of potential predators: Liolaemus lemniscatus escapes from rocky patches into grassy patches, and Liolaemus fuscus runs away from a rock onto another within the same rocky patch. These escaping responses are associated with concealing coloration and comparatively shorter legs in L. lemniscatus, as compared to L. fuscus. The adequacy of the behavior of L. lemniscatus is discussed.
References
Donoso-Barros, R.: Reptiles de Chile. Santiago: Ediciones Universidad de Chile 1966
Ferner, J.W.: Notes on natural history and behavior of Sceloporus undulatus erythrocheilus in Colorado. Amer. Midl. Nat. 96, 291–302 (1976)
Fuentes, E.R.: Ecological convergence of lizard communities in Chile and California. Ecology 57, 3–17 (1976)
Jackson, J.F.: The phenetics and ecology of a narrow hybrid zone. Evolution 27, 58–68 (1973a)
Jackson, J.F.: Distribution and population phenetics of the Florida scrub lizard, Sceloporus woodi. Copeia 1973, 746–761 (1973b)
Jackson, J.F., Telford Jr., S.R.: Reproductive ecology of the Florida scrub lizard, Sceloporus woodi. Copeia 1974, 689–694 (1974)
Kramer, G.: Body proportions of mainland and island lizards. Evolution 5, 193–206 (1951)
Snyder, R.C.: Adaptations for bipedal locomotion of lizards. Amer. Zool. 2, 191–203 (1962)
Sokal, R.R., Rohlf, F.J.: Biometry. San Francisco, Ca.: W.H. Freeman and Co. 1969
Vitt, L.J., Congdon, J.D., Dickson, N.A.: Adaptive strategies and energetics of tail autotomy in lizards. Ecology 58, 326–337 (1977)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jaksić, F.M., Núñez, H. Escaping behavior and morphological correlates in two Liolaemus species of Central Chile (Lacertilia: Iguanidae). Oecologia 42, 119–122 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00347623
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00347623