The energetic costs of tail autotomy to reproduction in the lizard Coleonyx brevis (Sauria: Gekkonidae)

Lizard Tail Autotomy: Function and Energetics of Postautotomy Tail Movement in Scincella lateralis

Handling of autotomized, thrashing and autotomized, exhausted tails of the lizard Scincella lateralis by mammals and snakes was tested to examine the function of postautotomy tail movement. Tail movement attracted a mammal's attack to the tail, permitting the lizard to escape and increased the time required for a snake to subdue a tail before swallowing it, increasing the lizard's escape time by 40 percent. Lactate concentrations of autotomized tails after movement were compared to those of intact tails after rest in S. lateralis, a species with a high rate of autotomized tail thrashing, and Anolis carolinensis, a species with a low rate of thrashing. Postautotomy movement increased tail lactate concentration in both species, but mean tail lactate concentration in S. lateralis was 60 percent higher than that in A. carolinensis, and a third higher than that reportedfor whole-body lactate content of the very mobile lizard Dipsosaurus dorsalis.

Social Cost of Tail Loss in Uta stansburiand

Tail removal from dominant juvenile Uta stansburiana resulted in a decrease in social status in dyadic encounters. Most lizards were affected after removal of two-thirds of their tails. In some pairs, dominant lizards lost status after removal of one-third of their tails but regained dominance after the other member of the pair lost two-thirds of its tail. Tail loss in nature may impose a social handicap to successful home range acquisition and thereby increase risk of death.