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Do female collared lizards change field use of maximal sprint speed capacity when gravid?

  • Behavioural Ecology
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Abstract

Locomotor ability is well-documented to decrease in gravid female lizards. However, no studies have examined what proportion of maximal sprint speed capacity gravid females use in nature or how a reduction in maximal capacity translates to changes in sprint speeds used in nature. Gravid females may compensate for reduced locomotor ability by increasing the proportion of their maximal capacity used in nature, or by changing their antipredator behaviour. I measured maximal sprint speed in the laboratory for female collared lizards (Crotaphytus collaris) while gravid and nongravid and then compared those to speeds used in the field while foraging and escaping predators, and also while gravid and nongravid. Females had significantly lower maximal sprint speed capacity while gravid, and they ran slower while foraging and escaping predators. However, gravid females did not increase the proportion of maximal capacity used in those contexts compared to when not gravid. Gravid females compensated for reduced locomotor capacity by staying closer to refugia but not by remaining more cryptic. These results suggest that the costs of reduced locomotor capacity may not be associated with direct costs while foraging or escaping predators, but instead with potential indirect effects associated with the change in antipredator behaviour.

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Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Oklahoma Gas & Electric for access to the study site, P. Widder, M. Rouse, and N. Rasmussen for help with field work, and S. Fox, T. A. Baird, A. Echelle and M. Palmer for comments on previous versions of the manuscript. This work was conducted with funding from the National Science Foundation (Dissertation Improvement Grant IOB-0407943) and Sigma Xi Grants-in-Aid of research. All work was conducted under an Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation permit and Oklahoma State University Animal Care and Use Protocol No. AS031.

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  1. Jerry F. Husak

    Present address: Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA

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  1. Department of Zoology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, 74078, USA

    Jerry F. Husak

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  1. Jerry F. Husak
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Correspondence to Jerry F. Husak.

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Communicated by Craig Osenberg

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Husak, J.F. Do female collared lizards change field use of maximal sprint speed capacity when gravid?. Oecologia 150, 339–343 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-006-0513-1

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