Parental care as part of high reproductive investment of a viviparous lizard from Patagonia, Argentina

CABEZAS CARTES, FACUNDO; BORETTO, JORGELINA; HALLOY, MONIQUE; IBARGÜENGOYTÍA, NORA

Hangzhou

Congreso; 8th World Congress of Herpetology; 2016

The climatic and ecological conditions under which a species evolve can determine the existence of parental care, and under harsh climates and high levels of predation it would be favored. In this study, we aimed to determine the existence of maternal care protection of offspring in response to a predator threat in the viviparous lizard Phymaturus spectabilis from Patagonia Argentina, microendemic of a cold-climate environment. Seventeen females with their offspring (clutch size: 1-3) were exposed under four different predation stimuli in laboratory: control, male of P. spectabilis, a stuffed hawk, and a carnivorous lizard. Each experiment lasted 10 minutes and the stimuli were randomly presented. We registered the frequency of observation of 13 behavior variables and analyzed the data using Repeated Measures ANOVA or Friedman Test when normality assumptions were not filled. Two different parental responses were observed in P. spectabilis. In the presence of an aerial predator, mothers stayed longer near the offspring and registered less activity than in the rest of the experiments. The close association between mothers and offspring might deter the raptor as they would look as a bigger animal than the one that the predator can manipulate. Besides, the freezing behavior suggests that these lizards would trust in their cryptic coloration to avoid detection. On the other hand, in the presence of the lizard predator, mothers displayed more head-bobs than in other treatments. Head-bobs would act both as a way of mother-offspring communication warning about the predator but also as a dissuasive signal to discourage the attack. The parental care behavior registered in P. spectabilis confirm the findings of similar behaviors in other species of the genus Phymaturus suggesting the existence of a common pattern of high reproductive investment in this highly specialized and endemic genus.