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Herpetology Notes, volume 14: 411-413 (2021) (published online on 23 February 2021)

A case of keratophagy in the neotropical Green Anole biporcatus (Wiegmann, 1834) in Costa Rica (Reptilia: )

Alberth Rojas Carranza1,* and Nicole Anderson2

Keratophagy is a process during which an individual direct sunlight, forages in the trunk-canopy zone and consumes its own shed skin or that of a conspecific feeds on a wide variety of arthropods, including during ecdysis (Groves and Groves, 1972; Fontenot and and (Savage, 2002). Taylor (1956) noted that this Pojman, 2016; Vacheva, 2018). Despite the fact that this also eats smaller anoles, but there are no in-situ phenomenon has been documented in amphibians and reports of keratophagy in A. biporcatus. , many details of its occurrence and functionality In the afternoon of 27 January 2016, within a remain poorly understood (Fontenot and Pojman, 2016). transitional premontane humid forest reserve protected However, there are many hypotheses regarding the by the A&M Soltis Center for Research and occurrence of keratophagy, including nutritional benefit, Education in Costa Rica (10.3835°N, 84.6172°E; predator avoidance, artificial behaviour in captivity, elevation 440 m) (Rojas-Carranza, 2019), we observed reduced ectoparasite load, and irritation of skin slough leading to consumption (Mitchell et al., 2006). In reptiles, keratophagy has been most frequently Table 1. Known anole species that practice keratophagy. documented among and snakes. A majority Table 1. Known anole species that practice keratophagy. of the information available originates with captive Taxa Setting Reference , and fewer documented records are available Captive Weldon et al. (1993) for keratophagy in the wild (Mitchell et al., 2006). Anolis amouri Wild Mitchell et al. (2006) We also note that the terminology related to shed Wild Present study skin consumption has not been consistently used, and Captive Weldon et al. (1993) terms such as ceratophagia (Seipp and Henkel, 2000), Captive & Wild Mitchell et al. (2006) epidermophagy (Iverson, 1979), and dermatophagy Wild Mitchell et al. (2006) (Weldon et al., 1993) have also been applied. Wild Mitchell et al. (2006) The neotropical Green Anole, Anolis biporcatus Captive Weldon et al. (1993) (Wiegmann, 1834), is a bright green, arboreal anole that Anolis equestris Wild Mitchell et al. (2006) occurs from southern through Central America Wild Mitchell et al. (2006) as far south as , Colombia, and Venezuela Captive Weldon et al. (1993) (Armstead et al., 2017). It reaches a maximum body Anolis limifrons Wild Mitchell et al. (2006) size (snout-to-vent length, SVL) of 105 mm with a tail Anolis lionotus Captive Weldon et al. (1993) length of approximately twice SVL (Armstead et al., Anolis longitibialis Wild Mitchell et al. (2006) 2017). The species can be found at elevations between Captive Weldon et al. (1993) 0–2000 m (Köhler, 2008). It is strictly diurnal, basks in Anolis nebulosus Wild Mitchell et al. (2006) Anolis nitens Wild Mitchell et al. (2006) Anolis oxylophus Wild Mitchell et al. (2006) Anolis petersi Captive Weldon et al. (1993) 1 Facultad Ambiente y Desarrollo, Universidad Para la Wild Mitchell et al. (2006) Cooperación Internacional, Calle 35, Barrio Escalante, San Anolis recordii Captive Mitchell et al. (2006) José 10101, Costa Rica. Wild Mitchell et al. (2006) 2 533 Fort Thomas Place, Round Rock, Texas 78664, USA. Anolis sagrei Wild Mitchell et al. (2006) * Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] Anolis townsendi Captive Weldon et al. (1993) Anolis trachyderma Wild Mitchell et al. (2006) © 2021 by Notes. Open Access by CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

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412 Alberth Rojas Carranza & Nicole Anderson

Figure 1. Keratophagy by a male Anolis biporcatus in Costa Rica. (A) The individual is in the process of consuming its own shed skin. (B) Extension of dewlap during intervals of keratophagy. (C) Changes in colour were particularly noticeable on the head of the . (D) After consuming approximately 95% of its shed skin by keratophagy, the lizard displays resplendent colouration. Photographs by Alberth Humberto Rojas Carranza.

an adult male A. biporcatus for 45 min while it was colouration of its head and upper body (Fig. 1B). Colour actively consuming its own shed skin while positioned tones progressed from dull brown to light green, similar on a branch of Senna papillosa (Britton and Rose) H.S. to the colour changes reported by Esquivel and Vargas- Irwin and Barneby (video recording available at https:// Acuña (2017), who observed A. biporcatus feeding on doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.13604423). The anole was stingless bees in Limón Province, Costa Rica. positioned approximately 4 m above the ground, in an The observations presented in this document provide area exposed to considerable airflow (Fig. 1A). new data about the behaviour and diet of wild A. During our observations, the anole sporadically biporcatus in the Caribbean foothills of Costa Rica, and extended its dewlap and also showed changes in the it adds a species to the list of known anoles that practice A case of keratophagy in the neotropical Anolis biporcatus in Costa Rica 413 keratophagy (Table 1). Our observations were made in Iverson, J.B. (1979): Behavior and of the rock iguana late January, which coincides with a period of reduced Cyclura carinata. Bulletin of the State Museum 24: rainfall at the Soltis Center as reported by Teale et al. l75–358. Köhler, G. (2008): Reptiles of Central America. Second Edition. (2014). This timing matches with keratophagy reported Offenbach, Germany, Herpeton Verlag. for A. nebulosus and Phyllodactylus tuberculosus, which Mitchell, J.C., Groves, J., Walls, S. (2006): Keratophagy in reptiles: was only observed in the dry season, on Isla María review, hypotheses, and recommendations. South American Cleofas in Mexico (Barraza and Escobedo, 2020). It Journal of Herpetology 1(1): 42–53. is possible that keratophagy in A. biporcatus might be Rojas-Carranza, A.H. (2019): First record of predation of the a stress-induced behaviour, due to dry environmental Red-eyed parachuting leaf frog (Agalychnis saltator) by the conditions, or a result of low prey availability in the Bare-necked umbrellabird (Cephalopterus glabricollis) in the Caribbean slope of the Tilarán Mountain Range, Costa Rica. dry season. However, more research and natural history Zeledonia 23(2): 48–52. data are needed to develop a better understanding on the Savage, J. (2002): Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica: a occurrence and function of keratophagy in neotropical Herpetofauna between Two Continents, between Two Seas. anoles. Chicago, Illinois, USA, University of Chicago Press. Seipp, R.F., Henkel, W. (2000): Rhacodactylus: Biology, Natural Acknowledgements. We are grateful to Marco Cedeño and History and Husbandry. Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Edition Mahmood Sasa for their support and improvements to the Chimaira. manuscript. We also thank Juan Marcial Serrano Sandí for Taylor, E.H. (1956): A review of the lizards of Costa Rica. providing the geolocation of the observation site. University of Science Bulletin 38: 3–322. Teale, N.G., Mahan, H., Bleakney, S., Berger, A., Shibley, N., References Frauenfeld, O.W., Washington-Allen, R. (2014): Impacts of vegetation and precipitation on throughfall heterogeneity in a Armstead, J.V., Ayala-Varela, F., Torres-Carvajal, O., Ryan, M.J., tropical pre-montane transitional . Biotropica 46(6): Poe, S. (2017): Systematics and ecology of Anolis biporcatus 667–676. (: ). Salamandra 53: 285–293. Vacheva, E. (2018): First records of keratophagy in Zootoca Barraza-Soltero, I.K., Escobedo-Galván, A.H. (2020): Keratophagy vivipara (Lichtenstein, 1823) (Reptilia: ) suggest a in two lizards from Isla María Cleofas, Mexico. Biharean common occurrence in free-ranging populations. Herpetology Biologist 14(1): 33–35. Notes 11: 963–965. Esquivel, C. (2017): Norops biporcatus (Wiegmann, 1834). Color Weldon, P.J., Demeter, B.J., Rosscoe, R. (1993): A survey of shed change during foraging. Mesoamerican Herpetology 4(1): 177– skin-eating (dermatophagy) in amphibians and reptiles. Journal 178. of Herpetology 27: 219–228. Fontenot, C.L., Jr., Pojman, J.A. (2016): Self and conspecific dermatophagy in the aquatic salamander Amphiuma tridactylum. Southeastern Naturalist 15: N40–N43. Groves, F., Groves, J.D. (1972): Keratophagy in snakes. Herpetologica, 28: 45–46.

Accepted by Gonçalo Rosa