Perch Diameter and Secondary Branching Have Interactive Effects on the Locomotion and Path Choice of Anole Lizards

Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	Jones, Zachary M.
Language:	English
Published:	University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK 2011
Subjects:	Biology Anoles Arboreal Performance Path Choice
Online Access:	http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1313689450

id	ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-ucin1313689450
record_format	oai_dc
spelling	ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-ucin13136894502021-08-03T06:15:05Z Perch Diameter and Secondary Branching Have Interactive Effects on the Locomotion and Path Choice of Anole Lizards Jones, Zachary M. Biology Anoles Arboreal Performance Path Choice Lizards in the genus Anolis have been a model system for correlating behavior and locomotor performance to variation in arboreal habitat structure, such as branch diameter. Although branch diameter is negatively correlated with an increased density of branches, the effects of branching density on performance are unknown for anoles and nearly all other arboreal animals. Thus, we tested the locomotor performance of <i>Anolis sagrei</i>,<i> A. carolinensis</i> and <i>A. angusticeps</i> running on straight cylinders with all combinations of five diameters (0.5 to 10 cm) and five patterns of pegs to simulate variable branching structure. We then tested their preferences to determine whether lizards selected paths with surfaces that optimized their running speed using eleven choice treatments. The sprint speeds of lizards were faster for larger diameter cylinders and ones lacking top center pegs. Lizards preferred to run along the top of cylinders lacking pegs, but pegs along the top of smaller diameters impeded their ability to do this. However, the 10-cm diameter perch was sufficiently wide that the lizards could run straight and fast to one side of pegs along the top of the perch. Despite their different limb-lengths and microhabitat preferences, all three species had similar preferences for the paths they chose. Lizards usually chose options with greater diameters and fewer pegs, but very large diameters with pegs were preferred to much smaller diameter cylinders without pegs. Our results suggest that preferring larger diameters in natural vegetation has direct benefits for speed and an added benefit of allowing detouring around branches with little adverse effect on speed. I quantified the effects of different auditory stimuli on the locomotor performance during the escape responses of two species of arboreal lizard, <i>Anolis sagrei</i> and <i>A. carolinensis</i>, with two different groups per each species that were either long-term captives or recently caught. Other than the presence or absence of a loud sound, I used conventional methods for handling the lizards and eliciting an escape. For the long-term captives of both species the addition of a loud sound significantly reduced the amount of pausing and increased the speed while running. Although the trends were similar for the recently-caught individuals and the long-term captives, the magnitude of the effect of the loud sounds was less for the recently-caught individuals. <i>A. sagrei</i> was faster than <i>A. carolinensis</i> regardless of the stimulus, and the rank order of individuals based on performance within each experimental group and species did not change significantly with different stimulus. My results suggest the auditory system of these lizards may be important for detecting and evading threats despite their lack of vocalization. 2011-09-26 English text University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1313689450 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1313689450 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.
collection	NDLTD
language	English
sources	NDLTD
topic	Biology Anoles Arboreal Performance Path Choice
spellingShingle	Biology Anoles Arboreal Performance Path Choice Jones, Zachary M. Perch Diameter and Secondary Branching Have Interactive Effects on the Locomotion and Path Choice of Anole Lizards
author	Jones, Zachary M.
author_facet	Jones, Zachary M.
author_sort	Jones, Zachary M.
title	Perch Diameter and Secondary Branching Have Interactive Effects on the Locomotion and Path Choice of Anole Lizards
title_short	Perch Diameter and Secondary Branching Have Interactive Effects on the Locomotion and Path Choice of Anole Lizards
title_full	Perch Diameter and Secondary Branching Have Interactive Effects on the Locomotion and Path Choice of Anole Lizards
title_fullStr	Perch Diameter and Secondary Branching Have Interactive Effects on the Locomotion and Path Choice of Anole Lizards
title_full_unstemmed	Perch Diameter and Secondary Branching Have Interactive Effects on the Locomotion and Path Choice of Anole Lizards
title_sort	perch diameter and secondary branching have interactive effects on the locomotion and path choice of anole lizards
publisher	University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK
publishDate	2011
url	http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1313689450
work_keys_str_mv	AT joneszacharym perchdiameterandsecondarybranchinghaveinteractiveeffectsonthelocomotionandpathchoiceofanolelizards
_version_	1719433447986954240

Perch Diameter and Secondary Branching Have Interactive Effects on the Locomotion and Path Choice of Anole Lizards

Similar Items