Herpetology Notes, volume 11: 975-976 (2018) (published online on 19 November 2018)

Predation on Spix’s whiptail Ameivula ocellifera (Spix, 1825) by the ����������� ���������-Glaucidium brasilianum (Gmelin, 1788) in northeastern Brazil

Washington Luiz Silva Vieira1,*, Dandara Monalisa Mariz Bezerra2, and Kleber Silva Vieira3

Lizards are food source for many birds, including owls During an avifaunal survey on 06 January 2011 at 16:00 (Poulin et al., 2001; Sick, 2001; Carrera et al., 2008;� h , at the Sítio Malhada da Pedra� �������������������� Gomes, 2013�� The Ferruginous Pygmy-owl Glaucidium Municipality, Rio Grande do Norte State, northeastern brasilianum (Gmelin, 1788), with approximately 16.5 cm Brazil (ca. -6.616414°S, -37.365461°W), we observed body length, displays nocturnal/diurnal behaviour and some species of passerine birds emitting alarm calls. At h as a diet composed principally of arthropods and small t hat time, we �����������������������G. brasilianum on vertebrates, including amphibians, reptiles, mammals, a branch of a nearby tree (Anadenanthera ���������) and other birds (Sick, 2001). The species inhabits a wide holding in its talons a partially consumed A. ocellifera variety of habitats and is widely distributed, occurring (Fig. 1). from Arizona (USA) to Argentina, and throughout all of Records on predation of whiptail lizards by birds Brazil (Sick, 2001; Perlo, 2009; Birdlife International, are scarce. Proudfoot and Beason (1997) reported 2017). on the predation of Texas spotted whiptail lizards, Lizards of the genus Ameivula are currently represented Cnemidophorus scalaris (as Aspidoscelis scalaris), by by 11 species that are widely distributed in South America (e.g., Arias et al., 2011; Harvey et al., 2012). Spix’s whiptail, Ameivula ocellifera (Spix, 1825), is quite common in areas of Atlantic Forest, Caatinga (dryland vegetation), Cerrado (Neotropical savannah), and Restingas (sandy, coastal vegetation) in Brazil (Vanzolini et al., 1980; Rocha et al., 2000; Santana et al., 2008, 2010). In this paper, we report a predation event on A. ocellifera by Glaucidium brasilianum in an area of shrub Caatinga vegetation in the semiarid region of northeastern Brazil.

1 Laboratório de Ecofisiologia Animal, Departamento de Sistemática e Ecologia, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Campus I, João Pessoa, Paraíba 58059-970, Brazil. 2 Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia da Paraíba, Campus Itabaiana. Itabaiana, Paraíba 58360-000, Brazil. 3 Departamento de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Estadual da Paraíba, Campina Grande, Paraíba Figure 1. A Ferruginous Pygmy-owl (Glaucidium brasilianum) 58109-753, Brazil. preying on an adult male Spix’s whiptail (Ameivula ocellifera). * Corresponding author. ������� ���������������������� Photograph by Dandara M.M. Bezerra. 976 Washington Luiz Silva Vieira et al. a G. brasilianum in a forested area in southern Texas, Life History, p. 1–152. Gans, C., Huey R.B., Eds., New York, USA, and Almeida et al. (2013) reported a predation USA, Wiley. attack by a great egret (Ardea alba) on A. ocellifera Harvey, M.B., Ugueto, G.N., Gutberlet Jr., R.L. (2012): Review of teiid morphology with a revised taxonomy and phylogeny of the on a sand dune beach complex in northeastern Brazil. T eiidae (Lepidosauria: Squamata). Zootaxa 3459: 1–156. Glaucidium brasilianum is a generalist predator that Perlo, B.V. (2009): A Field Guide to the Birds of Brazil. New consumes invertebrates and small vertebrates (Proudfoot York, USA, Oxford University Press. and Beason, 1997; ������������ ��������������������� Poug h, F.H., Andrews, R., Crump, M.L, Savitzky, A.H., Wells, species have found it to consume insects, amphibians, K.D., Brandley, M.C. (2016): Herpetology, Fourth Edition. reptiles, birds, and mammals (Proudfoot and Beason, Sunderland, USA, ������������������������ 1997; Carrera et al., 2008). A study undertaken in an Poulin, B., Lefebvre, G., Ibáñez, R., Jaramillo, C., Hernández, C., Rand, A.S. (2001): Avian predation upon lizards and frogs in a area of subtropical dry-forest in the “Gran Chaco” neotropical forest understory. Journal of Tropical Ecology 17: ecoregion in northern Argentina demonstrated that the 21–40. relative weight of prey consumed by G. brasilianum Proudfoot, G.A., Beason, S.L. (1997): Food habits of nesting was 50% birds, 41% mammals, and 8% lizards (Carrera F erruginous Pygmy-Owls in southern Texas. Wilson Bulletin et al., 2008). These authors recorded in the owl’s diet 109: 741–748. individuals of Spiny lava lizard (Tropidurus spinulosus), Roc ha, C.F.D., Bamberg, A.A.F., Vrcibradic, D., Costa, E.M.M., F our-toed tegu (Teius teyou) and Brazilian bush anole Price, A.H. (2000): New Cnemidophorus (Squamata; Teiidae) from coastal Rio de Janeiro state, southeastern Brazil. Copeia (Polychrus acutirostris). 2000: 501–509. Predation of lizards by birds is probably opportunistic Santana, G.G., Vieira, W.L.S, Pereira-Filho, G.A, Delfim, F.R., (i.e., when the predator has a generalist diet and Lima, Y.C.C., Vieira, K.S. (2008): Herpetofauna em um eventually feed on lizards), similar to predation by birds fragmento de Floresta Atlântica no estado da Paraíba, Região on amphibians (e.g., Toledo et al., 2007). The predation Nordeste do Brasil. Biotemas 21: 75–84. of G. brasilianum on A. ocellifera can be considered Santana, G.G., Vasconcellos, A., Gadelha, Y.E.A, Vieira, W.L.S, an opportunistic event. Although reptiles had only low Almeida, W.O., Nóbrega, R.P., Alves, R.R.N (2010): Feeding h abits, sexual dimorphism and size at maturity of the lizard representation in the diet of G. brasilianum in the study Cnemidophorus ocellifer (Spix, 1825) (Teiidae) in a reforested by Carrera et al. (2008), small and medium-sized lizards restinga habitat in northeastern Brazil. �������������������� are common elements of the diets of a large variety of Biology 70: 409–416. animals (e.g., Greene, 1988; Vieira et al., 2012; Pough Sick, H. 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