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Thermal Dependence of Tongue‐flicking and Comments on Use of Tongue‐flicking as an Index of Squamate Behavior
Author(s) -
Cooper William E.,
Vitt Laurie J.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
ethology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.739
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1439-0310
pISSN - 0179-1613
DOI - 10.1111/j.1439-0310.1986.tb00582.x
Subject(s) - foraging , biology , zoology , sauria , ecology , juvenile , tongue , predation , lizard , linguistics , philosophy
Tongue‐flicking rate has often been used as a dependent variable or a component of a dependent variable taken as a measure of responsiveness to chemical stimuli by lizards and snakes. Because temperature has been controlled in most studies, effects of temperature have been largely overlooked. In this study, a constant stimulus, the adult cloacal odor of a conspecific female, was presented to adult scincid lizards ( Eumeces laticeps ) and temperature was from 15 ° to 35 °C. Tongue‐flicking rates by adult Eumeces laticeps in response to cloacal odors of conspecific females were strongly thermally dependent in 20 s and 60 s trial periods. The tongue‐flick‐temperature curve appears to be roughly quadratic over the entire 15 °‐35 °C range studied, with very low rates at 15 ° and 20 °C followed by a rapid rise to maximum tongue‐flicking rate at 30 ° and rapid decline to 35 °C. Presumably, similar relationships apply to other lizards and snakes with modifications related to ecological characteristics such as diel activity cycle and foraging mode, to relative position on a scale of eurythermy‐stenothermy, and to taxon. Thermal response curves for other stimuli, especially prey odors, are likely to have the same basic form, but have not been determined.