Naik, Vaibhav

Patel, Harshil

Tank, Shantilal K.

English

Cadernos Espinosanos (E-Journal)

191Phyllomedusa - 15(2), December 2016Received 5 August 2016Accepted 31 October 2016Distributed December 2016Keywords: defensive behavior, lizards, Lygosoma guentheri, Lygosoma punctata, thanatosis.Palavras-chave: comportamento de defesa, lagartos, Lygosoma guentheri, Lygosoma punctata, tanatose.Thanatosis (meaning “putting to death” in Greek) or death feigning is a form of defensive behavior in which an animal pretends to be dead when threatened or attacked by a predator (McFarland 1982). Death feigning has been TGRQTVGF CETQUU VCZC CPF TGRQTVGF KP OCOOCNU(Francq 1969), birds (Sargeant and Eberhardt  ſUJGU /E-C[G  *QYG reptiles (Gomes et al. 2004, Bertoluci et al. 2006, Purkayastha and Das 2010, Ribeiro et al. 2010, Vogel and Han-Yuen 2010), amphibians (Sazima 1974, Bertoluci et al. 2007, Toledo et al. 2010), arthropods (Miyatake 2001, King and Leaich 2006), and molluscs (Zhang et al. 2009). Though widespread, there are few reports of VJCPCVQUKUKP#UKCPTGRVKNGUCPFQPN[ſXGTGEQTFUof it in reptiles from India—viz., Xenochrophis piscator (Schneider, 1799) (MacDonald 1947, Vogel and Han-Yuen 2010), Coelognathus radiatus (Boie, 1827) (Vogel and Han-Yuen 2010), Lycodon aulicus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Mirza et al. 2011), Pseudoxenodon macrops (Blyth, 1855) (Bhosale and Thite 2013), and Spheno-Death-feigning behavior in two species of Lygosoma (Squamata: Scincidae) from IndiaHarshil Patel1, Vaibhav Naik2, and Shantilal K. Tank11 Department of Biosciences, Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, Surat, 395007, Gujarat, India. E-mail: harshilpatel121@gmail.com.2 Valsad Pardi, Gopi Street, Valsad, 396001, Gujarat, India.Phyllomedusa 15(2):191–194, 2016© 2016 Universidade de São Paulo - ESALQ ISSN 1519-1397 (print) / ISSN 2316-9079 (online)doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.11606/issn.2316-9079.v15i2p191-194morphus maculatus (Blyth, 1853) (Purkayastha and Das 2010).Here, we report thanatosis in two more URGEKGU QH +PFKCP TGRVKNGU HQT VJG ſTUV VKOGōLygosoma guentheri (Peters, 1879) and L. punctata (Gmelin, 1799). Lygosoma guentheri is an Indian endemic skink distributed across peninsular India (Figure 1A). It occurs at elevation up to 1800 m. Lygosoma punctata is widely distributed in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh (Figure 1B). It occurs at elevation up to 2500 m a.s.l. (Srinivasulu et al. 2014). Both skinks are diurnal, terrestrial, and insectivorous; little is known about the natural history of either species.Opportunistic observations were made on skinks in their habitats at three localities in South Gujarat Region of Gujarat, India. The lizards YGTG KFGPVKſGF CPF RJQVQITCRJGF CPF VJGPreleased in their respective habitats. Death-feigning behavior was observed on three QEECUKQPU9JGPRQUUKDNGYGRJQVQITCRJGFNKXGskinks and individuals engaged in death feigning. On one occasion, we recorded a video to estimate the time the lizard remained immobilized. Death-feigning behavior was observed twice in adult Lygosoma guentheri and once in a juvenile L. punctata.192Phyllomedusa - 15(2), December 2016Figure 1.  Living specimens of Lygosoma guentheri (A) and L. punctata (B).ABOn 01 May 2016 at about13:00 h, an adult Lygosoma guentheri (180 mm total length) was found under a rock in a mango orchard near the village of Valsad-Pardi, Valsad (20o37'25.58'' N, 72o			'OCUN9JGPVJGUMKPMYCUcaught by hand, it immediately started writhing KPCPGHHQTVVQGUECRG*QYGXGTſPFKPIPQYC[VQGUECRGKVVWTPGFQXGTQPKVUDCEMVQGZRQUGVJGXGPVGT6JGUMKPMGZVGPFGFKVUNKODUCPFUVKHHGPGF(Figure 2A). During the 50 s that the lizard maintained this position, we observed a rapid heartbeat, after which the skink slowly began to roll on its right side (Figure 2B). Then the skink rolled its anterior body slowly onto its anterior limbs and remained in that position for about 70 s (Figure 2C). Subsequently, the skink rolled over quickly onto its feet and remained motionless for a few seconds (Figure 2D) and attempted a quick escape. The whole event lasted for nearly 2 min and 30 s.Figure 2. Sequence of death feigning behavior by an adult Lygosoma guentheri. See text for details.ACBDPatel et al.193Phyllomedusa - 15(2), December 2016On 29 October 2015 at about 09:30 h, an adult Lygosoma guentheri (200 mm total length) was observed foraging on the ground on a plateau near the village of Piprol, Dharampur, Valsad (20o13'18.12'' N, 73o19'37.29'' E; 435 m CUN 9JGP YG CRRTQCEJGF VJG UMKPM VQQMUJGNVGT WPFGT C PGCTD[ DQWNFGT 9JGP VJGindividual was caught by hand, it immediately began writhing to escape; then skink abruptly UVQRRGFOQXKPICPFƀKRRGFQPKVUDCEMGZRQUKPIKVU XGPVGT 6JG NK\CTF GZVGPFGF KVU NKODU CPFstiffened (Figure 3), and remained immobile for about 25 s with a rapid heartbeat. After that, the skink quickly rolled over onto its feet and attempted to escape.On 20 July 2014, a juvenile of Lygosoma punctata (130 mm total length) was seen foraging in leaf litter in moist deciduous forest ƀQQT CV 8CPUFC 0CVKQPCN 2CTM 0CXUCTKFigure 3. Death feigning by second individual of Lygo-soma guentheri.(20o45'3.07'' N, 73o28'50.86'' E; 120 m a.s.l.). 9JGPECWIJVUMKPMOQXGFKVUDTKIJVEQNQTGFVCKNand tried to escape. After some time, it stopped OQXKPI CPF ƀKRRGF QP KVU DCEM UJQYKPI KVUventer. It stiffened and remained immobile for about 10 s, after which the skink rolled over onto its feet and escaped quickly in the nearby XGIGVCVKQP9G YGTG WPCDNG VQ RJQVQITCRJ VJKUevent.It seems that death feigning is a tactic used by animals to manipulate predators by appearing to be dead before making an escape (Honma et al. 2006). Thanatosis has been reported primarily in snakes, and its occurrence in other reptiles is poorly documented; properly documented studies of this behavior and its role in survival of the animal are needed.Acknowledgments.ō9GCTGVJCPMHWNVQ4CLWVyas, Zeeshan Mirza, and two anonymous TGXKGYGTUHQTXCNWCDNGUWIIGUVKQPUVJCVDGPGſVGFthis manuscript. HP was supported by INSPIRE Fellowship (IF 130480) from the Department of Science and Technology (DST), New Delhi, India.  ReferencesBertoluci, J., J. Cassimiro, and M. T. Rodrigues. 2006. Tropiduridae (tropidurid lizards). Death-feigning. Herpetological Review 37: Ō$GTVQNWEK , 4 # $TCUUCNQVK * 1 5CYCMWEJK , 94KDGKTQ,TCPF)9QGJN,T&GHGPUKXGDGJCXKQWTwith stiff-legged posture in the Brazilian tree toads Dendrophryniscus brevipollicatus and D. leucomystax (Anura, Bufonidae). Alytes 25: ŌBhosale, H. S. and V. Thite. 2013. Death feigning behavior in Large-Eyed False Cobra Pseudoxenodon macrops (Blyth, 1854) (Squamata: Colubridae). Russian Journal of Herpetology 20: ŌFrancq, E. N. 1969. Behavioral aspects of feigned death in the opossum Didelphis marsupialis. American Midland Naturalist 81: ŌGomes, F. R., T. Kohlsdorf, and C. A. Navas. 2004. Death-feigning in Eurolophosaurus divaricatus: temperature and habituation effects. 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Death-feigning behavior in two species of Lygosoma (Squamata: Scincidae) from India

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Death-feigning behavior in two species of Lygosoma (Squamata: Scincidae) from India

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