Predation attempt by Anolis porcatus

Herpetology Notes, volume 7: 525-526 (2014) (published online on 8 September 2014)
Predation attempt by Anolis porcatus (Sauria, Dactyloidae) on
Mus musculus (Rodentia, Muridae)
Javier Torres* and Martín Acosta
Anolis porcatus Gray, 1840 is a Cuban endemic species
(Rodríguez-Schettino, 1999) introduced in the American
mainland and elsewhere in some other Antillean islands
(revised by Stuart et al., 2012). It presents a wide
distribution range in the Cuban archipelago but it is
more abundant in the western and eastern ends of the
island (Rodríguez-Schettino, op. cit.; Glor et al., 2004).
This species commonly occurs in disturbed habitats
close to human settlements (Henderson and Powell,
2009). Males, larger than females, reach a mean snoutvent length (SVL) of 64 mm and both sexes are mainly
insectivorous although occasionally feed on vegetal
material or small vertebrates as lizards or frog larvae
(revised by Rodríguez-Schettino, op. cit.). Prey size
depends on body size in lizards and frogs (Caldwell and
Vitt, 1999) and there is a strong dependence particularly
in Anolis, (revised by Losos, 2009). A. porcatus usually
takes small prey; nevertheless herein we report an
instance of this lizard capturing a very large, unusual
prey.
On 30 October 2013, at 4:22 pm, junior author
photographed in his home backyard’s at Calvario
(23.05684ºN, 82.33289ºW; NAD27 datum), Arroyo
Naranjo Municipality, Havana, Cuba, an adult male A.
porcatus with a dead adult house mouse (Mus musculus
Linnaeus, 1758) in its mouth (Figure 1). Based on the
position of both animals when they were detected, we
assume that the mouse was captured when it approached
the trunk base and the anole should have been hanging
vertically from the trunk with the head downward.
Departamento de Biología Animal y Humana, Facultad de
Biología, Universidad de la Habana. Calle 25 #455 e/ J e
I, Vedado, CP 10400, Plaza de la Revolución, La Habana,
Cuba.
*Corresponding autor; e-mail: [email protected]
This is a very common survey posture in anoles which
have importance in foraging (Stamps, 1977). As the
junior author was photographing the event, the lizard
continued climbing the tree trunk upwards assuming
a vertical position but did not drop its prey (Figure 2).
After a while it was lost from sight in the vegetation at
approximately 4 m above the ground. We think that the
lizard did not eat its prey due to impediment by body
size.
We are confident in that the lizard caught the mouse
alive, even when we did not witness the capture. We
think that under normal conditions probably the lizard
had not been capable to subdue an adult mouse but the
rodent was seen minutes before wandering disoriented
and slowly in daylight, symptoms of envenomation.
This is feasible since venom pellets for rodents were
strategically distributed throughout the property.
The giant anoles (more than 100 mm SVL) are
known to prey on vertebrates occasionally (Rand and
Figure 1. In situ photograph of an adult male lizard (Anolis
porcatus) holding a dead mouse (Mus musculus). Photo:
Martín Acosta
526
Javier Torres & Martín Acosta
manuscript.
References
Figure 2. The same specimen, two minutes later, while
climbing higher up in the tree with its prey. Photo: Martín
Acosta
Andrews, 1975; Brach, 1976; Dalrymple, 1980; PerezRivera, 1985; Fong, 2002), but even so, mammal
predation attempt or mammal predation has been
recorded a few times only. Dalrymple (op. cit.) and
Schwartz and Henderson (1991) reported A. equestris
and A. smallwoodi respectively which accepted mice
in captivity. We found only one record of mammal
predation by an anole in nature: Perez-Rivera (op. cit.)
mentioned a case in which the giant anole A. cuvieri
preyed on M. musculus.
As far as we know this note is the first published
evidence of predation attempt on a mammal by a
dactyloid lizard smaller than 100 mm. This constitutes
another isolated incident for the family Dactyloidae
whose representatives, even the larger ones, consume
invertebrates mainly.
Acknowledgments. We thank Manuel Iturriaga Monsisbay
(Instituto de Ecología y Sistemática, Cuba) for his help with
literature and constructive comments on the early draft of the
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Accepted by Philip de Pous