Agonistic and courtship behaviour patterns in the skink Chalcides viridanus (Fam. Scincidae) from Tenerife

作者：Sanchez Hernandez Paula; Ramirez Pinilla Martha P; Molina Borja Miguel^*

来源：Acta Ethologica, 2012, 15(1): 65-71.

DOI：10.1007/s10211-011-0109-6

• Behaviour patterns
• Agonistic
• Courtship
• Skink
• Chalcides viridanus

There have been relatively few attempts to quantitatively describe behaviours in scincid lizards. Chalcides viridanus is a small body-sized skink endemic of Tenerife (Canary Islands). We describe and quantify 18 behaviour patterns (both social and agonistic) of this species, some of which have not been described before for other scincids. Video recordings of male-male, female-female, and male-female interactions were made under laboratory conditions, with controlled light-dark cycle and temperature. We describe several agonistic and courtship behaviour patterns. Within the first context, we detected a new agonistic behaviour for a scincid, %26quot;Snout to body%26quot;, that appeared at the beginning of agonistic sequences; it consisted of each animal placing its snout in contact with the other individual%26apos;s lateral side of the body. The amplitude of head movement during %26quot;Head bobbing%26quot; was lower than that described for many other lizard species. Agonistic behaviours were shown in intrasexual staged encounters both within males and females. The comparison of behaviour patterns of both types of intrasexual encounters showed that females were more active, exhibiting significantly higher frequencies of behaviour than males. Specifically, females showed the %26quot;Snout to body%26quot; pattern more frequently than males. In male-female encounters we detected courtship and copulation patterns only in April, when males performed %26quot;Bites%26quot; and %26quot;Snout to body%26quot; directed at females.

• 出版日期2012-4