Tail Displays of the Diurnal Annulated Gecko Gonatodes Annularis (Boulenger, 1887)
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Herpetology Notes, volume 14: 475-477 (2021) (published online on 02 March 2021) Tail displays of the diurnal annulated gecko Gonatodes annularis (Boulenger, 1887) Jessica Stefany Costa Anaissi1 and Carlos Eduardo Costa-Campos1,* Lizards use several tail displays including vibration, Amapá, Pará, and Amazonas (Ribeiro-Júnior, 2015). waving, and the lifting and curling of the tail over the Little is known on the natural history of the species body. These behaviours has been identified as a possible of the genus Gonatodes, although some information signal to advertise the presence of predators (Colli et al., are available for G. annularis (Fuenmayor and Molina, 2003; Alonso et al., 2010, Telemeco et al., 2011, York 2004), G. humeralis (Vitt et al., 1997; Seifan et al., 2002; and Baird, 2016), in social contexts (Qi et al., 2014), Miranda and Andrade, 2003; Oda, 2004; 2008; Costa et during agonistic and aggressive behaviour (Martínez- al., 2009; Miranda et al., 2010; Ávila-Pires et al., 2012) Cotrina et al., 2014; Beltrán and Amézquita, 2015) and and G. hasemani (Vitt et al., 2000). In this study, we in male-male and male-female interactions (Ávila-Pires report on a tail display in G. annularis. et al., 2012). On the morning of the 5 July 2019, during a field The neotropical sphaerodactyline lizards of the genus survey in the Reserva Extrativista Beija Flor Brilho Gonatodes is a diverse clade of mostly diurnal geckos, de Fogo, municipality of Pedra Branca do Amapari, composed by 31 species (Uetz et al., 2020), which state of Amapá, north Brazil (0.8045º N; -52.2125º occur in northern South America, Central America, and W; datum WGS84, 123 m a.s.l.), we hand captured the Caribbean (Ávila-Pires, 1995; Gamble et al., 2008). an adult specimen of G. annularis which was in a tree In Brazilian Amazonia, six species of Gonatodes have trunk. After being released the lizard displayed a lateral been reported: Gonatodes annularis Boulenger, 1887; movement of the tail (Fig. 1A; 1B) and lifted and curved G. eladioi Nascimento, Ávila-Pires & Cunha, 1987; the tail over the body, showing the ventral colouration G. hasemani Griffin, 1917; G. humeralis (Guichenot, consisting of contrasting light and dark bands (Fig. 1C; 1855); G. nascimentoi Sturaro & Ávila-Pires, 2011 and 1D). After this behaviour, the lizard returned to the G. tapajonicus Rodrigues, 1980. The annulated gecko normal position. G. annularis is a medium-sized, arboreal and diurnal The tail display consists of a lateral movement of the gecko which is generally active on the lower parts of entire tail performed with the tail tip somewhat curved the tree trunks (30–150 cm above ground), on fallen laterally and while the individual remained stationary tree trunks, and in rocks crevices (Ávila-Pires, 1995). (Fig. 1). This lateral movement of the tail resembled It inhabits primary terra firme and várzea forests (Ávila the behaviour performed in antipredator contexts by Pires, 1995; Ávila-Pires et al., 2010, Ribeiro-Júnior, the yellow-headed gecko G. albogularis (Alonso et al., 2015), and it is endemic to northern Amazonia, where 2010), Gymnodactylus geckoides (Passos et al., 2012) it can be found in northeastern Brazil, the Guianas, and and in male-male interactions by the Trinidad gecko G. eastern Venezuela south of the Orinoco River (Ávila- humeralis (Ávila-Pires et al., 2012). Pires, 1995). In Brazil it is known from the states of According Pianka and Vitt (2003), the lifting up and curling of the tail over the body is a strategy employed to avoid predation attempts. Some lizards mimic noxious, toxic, or potentially dangerous species (e.g. scorpions), and such behaviour has already been reported in the 1 Laboratório de Herpetologia, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Amapá, geckos Gymnodactylus amarali (Colli et al., 2003), Campus Marco Zero do Equador, 68903-419, Macapá, G. geckoides (Passos et al., 2012), Coleodactylus Amapá, Brazil. brachystoma (Brandão and Motta, 2005), Gonatodes * Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] humeralis (Costa et al., 2009) and in Anolis lizards (e.g. © 2021 by Herpetology Notes. Open Access by CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Norops chrysolepis; Pinto and Costa-Campos, 2017). 476 Jessica Stefany Costa Anaissi & Carlos Eduardo Costa-Campos Figure 1. Adult individual of Gonatodes annularis exhibiting the tail display. (A, B) lateral movement of the entire tail with the tip somewhat curved laterally. (C, D) lifting up and curling the tail over the body, showing the ventral colouration with contrasting light and dark bands. This is the first tail display report in G. annularis. This tropical forests of Colombia. Journal of Ethology 28: 305–311. observation can contribute to a better understanding of Ávila-Pires, T.C.S. (1995): Lizards of Brazilian Amazonia (Reptilia: how and why this behaviour has evolved multiple times Squamata). Zoologische Verhandelingen Leiden 299: 1–706. in the visual communication of lizards. Ávila-Pires, T.C.S., Hoogmoed, M.S., Rocha, W.A. (2010): Notes on the vertebrates of northern Pará, Brazil: a forgotten part of the Guianan Region, I. Herpetofauna. Boletim do Museum Paraense Acknowledgements. We thank Diego J. Santana for providing Emílio Goeldi, Ciências Naturais 5: 13–112. valuable comments on the manuscript. The authors would like Ávila-Pires, T.C.S., Macedo, L.C., Costa, P.A.F.B., Hoogmoed, to thank Thiago Moreira, Abdiel Freitas, Vinícius Barbosa, Ana M.S. (2012): Gonatodes humeralis (Guichenot, 1855) Luiza, Rodrigo Tavares, Fernanda Melo and Aline Souza for (Squamata: Sphaerodactylidae): Behavior. Herpetologia helping in the field. We are grateful Samuel, Ediniel, Judson and Brasileira 1: 111–112. Rilton for valuable assistance during fieldwork. The Secretaria Beltrán, I.C., Amézquita, A. (2015): First report of tail display Municipal do Meio Ambiente (SEMAM) of Pedra Branca do during agonistic interaction in an anole species and a comment Amapari for logistical support and the opportunity to carry out research on the Reserva Extrativista Beija Flor Brilho de Fogo. on its existence in various groups of lizards. Herpetology Notes Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade 8: 357–359. (ICMBio/SISBIO #48102-2) and SEMAM (process #011/2019) Brandão, R., Motta, P. 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