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Dicrurus Hottentottus) Correlates of Head Scale Asymmetry and Fragmentation in a Tropical Snake

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Dicrurus Hottentottus) Correlates of Head Scale Asymmetry and Fragmentation in a Tropical Snake North-Western Journal of Zoology 2019, vol.15 (2) - Correspondence: Notes 197 Boulenger, G.A. (1913): On the geographical races of Vipera ammodytes. Journal An observation of the nectar- / insect feeding of Natural History 11(63): 283-287. Brown, G.P., Madsen, T., Dubey, S., Shine, R. (2017): The causes and ecological hair-crested drongo (Dicrurus hottentottus) correlates of head scale asymmetry and fragmentation in a tropical snake. Scientific reports 7(1): 11363. eats a lizard as a novel food source Crnobrnja-Isailović, J., Haxhiu, I. (1997): Vipera ammodytes. pp. 384-385. In: Gasc, J.P. et al. (eds.), Atlas of Amphibians and Reptiles in Europe. Societas The hair-crested drongo (Dicrurus hottentottus) is a common Europaea Herpetologica and Muséum National d' Histoire Naturelle, Paris. migratory passerine bird, which breeds in central and south- Idrisova, L.A. (2018): The Effect of Incubation Temperature on Deviations of Pholidosis and Malformations in Grass Snake Natrix natrix (L. 1758) and ern China and typically heads to tropical Indochina to over- Sand Lizard Lacerta agilis (L. 1758). KnE Life Sciences 4(3): 70-74. winter (Rocamora & Yeatman-Berthelot 2009). While it is King, R.B. (1997): Variation in brown snake (Storeria dekayi) morphology and well established that drongos utilize diverse habitat, their scalation: sex, family, and microgeographic differences. Journal of Herpetology, 31(3): 335-346. diet is poorly understood. Previous observation has identi- Lorioux, S., Vaugoyeau, M., DeNardo, D.F., Clobert, J., Guillon, M., Lourdais, fied that, in tropical overwintering areas, the hair-crested O. (2013): Stage dependence of phenotypical and phenological maternal drongo feeds primarily on nectar (Pandey 1991), whereas in effects: insight into squamate reptile reproductive strategies. The American Naturalist 182(2): 223-233. subtropical and temperate breeding areas it appears to Lourdais, O., Shine, R., Bonnet, X., Guillon, M., Naulleau, G. (2004): Climate mainly eat insects (Wang & Qian 1989, Zhao 2001). Zhao affects embryonic development in a viviparous snake, Vipera aspis. Oikos (2001) claims that hair-crested drongos may eat snakes in 104: 551-560. Murphy, J.B., Rehg, J.E., Maderson, P.F., McCrady, W.B. (1987): Scutellation high latitude areas, and Rocamora & Yeatman-Berthelot and pigmentation defects in a laboratory colony of Western diamondback (2009) provide an anecdotal report that this species may eat rattlesnakes (Crotalus atrox): mode of inheritance. Herpetologica 43(3): 292- small lizards. However, to-date, there has been no firm evi- 300. dence corroborating that this nectar-insect eating bird con- Olsson, M., Gullberg, A., Tegelström, H. (1996): Malformed offspring, sibling matings, and selection against inbreeding in the sand lizard (Lacerta agilis). sumes vertebrates. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 9(2): 229-242. Sanders, K.L., Malhotra, A., Thorpe, R.S. (2006): Combining molecular, Over 3 days (17, 18, 21) in June 2017, we observed a hair-crested morphological and ecological data to infer species boundaries in a cryptic drongo nest, built in an empress tree (Paulownia tomentosa), ap- tropical pit viper. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 87: 343-364. proximately 15 meters in front of a local residential house in Yangri Shine, R., Langkilde, T., Wall, M., Mason, R. T. (2005): The fitness correlates of scalation asymmetry in garter snakes Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis. Functional town (478m a.s.l., 110.81°E, 31.74°N) in Shennongjia, Hubei province, Ecology 19(2): 306-314. China. Stoyanov, A., Tzankov, N. (2017): Individual variation of pileus scalation characteristics in Vipera berus bosniensis Boettger, 1889 (Reptilia: Sqaumata: Using a single-lens reflex camera (Canon 7D2, 100-400 mm Viperidae). North-Western Journal of Zoology 13(1): 186-191. lens), with 0.31 magnification, we observed that on June 18, Tomović, L., Radojičić, J., Dzukić, G., Kalezić, M.L. (2002): Sexual dimorphism of the sand viper (Vipera ammodytes L.) from the central part of Balkan at 17: 32, an adult female drongo flew back to its nest, carry- Peninsula. Russian journal of herpetology 9(1): 69-76. ing a small lizard of the species Szechwan japalure (Japalura Tomović, Lj. (2006): Systematics of the nose-horned viper (Vipera ammodytes, flaviceps), that it fed to one of its nestlings (Fig. 1). Although Linnaeus, 1758). The Herpetological Journal 16(2): 191-201. Tomović, L., Carretero, M.A., Ajtic, R., Crnobrnja-Isailovic, J. (2008): Evidence for post-natal instability of head scalation in the meadow viper (Vipera ursinii) – patterns and taxonomic implications. Amphibia-Reptilia 29(1): 61- 70. Tok, C.V., Kumlutş, Y. (1996): On Vipera ammodytes transcaucasiana (Viperidae) from Perşembe, Black Sea region of Turkey. Zoology in the Middle East 13(1): 47-50. Ursel, F. (1978): Der Pileus der Squamata. Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde Serie A Üveges, B., Halpern, B., Péchy, T., Posta, J., Komlósi, I. (2012): Characteristics and heritability analysis of head scales of the Hungarian meadow viper (Vipera ursinii rakosiensis, Méhely 1893). Amphibia-Reptilia 33(3-4): 393-400. Key words: head scales, scale oligomerization, Vipera ammodytes, vi- per, Serbia. Article No.: e197505 Received: 02. February 2019 / Accepted: 04. September 2019 Available online: 10. September 2019 / Printed: December 2019 Tijana ČUBRIĆ1 and Jelka CRNOBRNJA-ISAILOVIĆ1,2 1. Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science and Mathematics, University of Niš, Višegradska 33, 18 000 Niš, Serbia. 2. Department of Evolutionary Biology, Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković”, University of Belgrade, Despota Stefana 142, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia. * Corresponding author, T. Čubrić, E-mail: [email protected] Figure. 1. An adult female hair-crested drongo (Dicrurus hottentottus) carrying a Szechwan japalure (Japalura flaviceps) back to its nest (a) and feeding it to a nestling (b) on an empress tree (Paulownia tomen- tosa) in Shennongjia, Hubei Province, China. Table 1. A list of vertebrates documented as food for drongos, with literature sources. This includes descriptions of vertebrate-feeding by drongos in the book Handbook of the birds of the world (Rocamora & Yeatman- Berthelot 2009). Food habits in the book: Handbook of the birds of the Common name Latin name Vertebrates in diet Reference world Greater racquet-tailed Dicrurus paradiseus a small tree frog Wells 2007 primarily insects; some small vertebrates; nectar drongo lizards and small birds Ali and Ripley 1987 Hair-crested drongo D. hottentottus a completed small lizard Mees 1982 mainly insects and nectar; small lizards Spangled drongo D. bracteatus birds: a spotted pardalote (Pardalotus punctatus) and a brown Matthew et al. 2017 Omnivorous; mainly insects; fruits; nectar; small ver- gerygone (Gerygone mouki) tebrates, include lizards, bats and, small birds Ashy drongo D. leucophaeus lizards and small birds (warbler, iora) Ali and Ripley 1987 principally insects; small vertebrates, include small small reptiles and birds Mathews et al. 2007 lizards and birds; nectar reptiles and small birds Mahabal et al. 2008 Black drongo D. macrocercus small passerines Craig and Taisacan 1994 predominately insects (often agricultural pests); liz- birds: the Rota bridled white-eye (Zosterops rotensis); Eurasian Amidon 2000, Maben 1982, ards; small bats; nestlings and small birds; fish; nectar; tree sparrows (Passer montanus); rufous fantails (Rhipidura rufi- Perez 1968 grains frons); Guam swiftlets (Aerodramus vanikorensis) lizards, small birds (Prinia, Zosterops, Aegithina records) and small Ali and Ripley 1987 bats (Microchiroptera) birds: a Siberian stonechat (Saxicola maura), an Asian stubtail Hong et al. 2010 (Urosphena squameiceps) birds: Tickell’s blue flycatcher (Muscicapa tickelliae), Prinia spp., Osmaston 1922, Aegithina spp., Zosterops spp. including the Indian white-eye Ali and Ripley 1983, (Zosterops palpebrosa), and some martins (Hirundinidae) Sridharan and Sivasubramanian 1987, D’ Silva et al. 1990, Jayson and Ramachandran 1994 small rodents Kanwal et al. 2015 small birds Mahabal et al. 2008 Fork-tailed drongo D. adsimilis lizards, small birds (Prinia, Zosterops, Aegithina records) and small Ali and Ripley 1987 mostly large insects; small birds; small fish; flowers; bats (Microchiroptera) nectar a bird: bronze manniken (Lonchura cucullata) Pickles 2012 Madagascar crested D. forficatus fish-scaled gecko (Geckolepis sp.) Gardner and Jasper 2014 invertebrates; some small vertebrates, include small drongo chameleons (Chamaeleonidae) Aldabra drongo D. aldabranus small reptiles Frith 1977 mainly insects; vertebrates such as geckos (Gekkoni- dae) and lizards North-Western Journal of Zoology 2019, vol.15 (2) - Correspondence: Notes 199 we recorded only one instance of a lizard being provisioned Acknowledgment. Thanks to Boyu Lei and Wenwen Chen for their to a nestling among 34 feeding events on June 18, this is the helpful suggestions and comments on the earlier manuscript. This first photographic evidence of this phenomenon. These in- study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31500359) and the Youth Innovation Promotion sectivorous lizards, which are about 78 ± 167 mm long, usu- Association CAS (2016078). ally live in warm, dry hillside grasslands and are common inhabitants of this mountainous study region (Zhao et al. References 1999). Therefore, Szechwan japalures would be easily avail- Ali, S., Ripley, S.D. (1983): Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan.
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