Artículos de revistas
Thermal ecology, activity pattern, habitat, and microhabitats used by the skink Mabuya arajara (Squamata: Scincidae) in the Araripe Plateau, northeastern Brazil
Fecha
2019-10-26Registro en:
Journal of Natural History, v. 53, n. 39-40, p. 2365-2377, 2019.
1464-5262
0022-2933
10.1080/00222933.2019.1704460
2-s2.0-85077878428
Autor
Universidade Federal do Cariri–UFCA
Universidade Regional do Cariri–URCA
Universidade Federal da Paraíba (UFPB)
Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp)
Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP)
Institución
Resumen
We evaluated the activity period, thermal ecology, habitats, and preference for microhabitats of the skink Mabuya arajara in a humid forest environment on the slope of the Araripe Plateau, Brazil. A total of 283 lizards were observed. The lizards were found to be diurnally active (unimodal type pattern), with peak activity during the hottest hours of the day (1100 to 1200). About habitat use, the majority of individuals (73.8% N = 209) were recorded in the narrow transitional area, in the edges of the forest; while 26.4% of individuals were observed in open areas and no observations were made in dense forest. Seven different types of microhabitats were used, with fallen palm leaves (Arecaceae) being the preferred (47.7% N = 135). Considering all lizards, microhabitat niche breadth was 3.27. Males and females presented a high overlap (0.95) in microhabitat use. The average Tc recorded for M. arajara was 32.06 ± 2.72°C. Body size (SVL) did not influence body temperature (F = 0.51, P = > 0.05). Most of the animals were observed with their bodies completely exposed (67.84%, N = 192), 18.37% (N = 52) were semi-exposed and 13.79% (N = 39) were in shelters. Among animals with some degree of sunlight exposure, 57.59% (N = 163) were in shadows, 25.10% (N = 71) were under sunlight filtered by vegetation, and 17.31% (N = 49) were under direct sunlight.A review of the ecology of Mabuya spp. shows that several features appear to be conserved among members of the genus.