Caudas azuis ou vermelhas: Porque não são comuns em grandes lagartos?

Abstract

In lizards, to possess conspicuous colorations on the tail may be advantageous, as eventual attacks would be directed to a region that can be autotomized, increasing the animal’s chance of survival. However, the size of the animal can be a limiting factor for this strategy, since the increase of the signaling area can attract predators from long distances. We hypothesize that the color and size of lizard tails may affect their rate of predation, and that flashy tails would avoid lethal attacks. We used replicas of small and large lizards, of modeling mass, with brown body and conspicuous and cryptic tails. The 600 models were placed in a natural environment, over 80 days. Large models of red tails were attacked more quickly, and more intensely, by birds. Unidentified predators and mammals showed no preference for any model. The attacks were not directed at the conspicuous tails, when compared to the rest of the body, by no predator. Our study suggests that increasing red color signals improves the detection of lizards by visually oriented predators. Be small and possessing flashy tails, can be as cryptic to the foliage in an Atlantic Forest, as models that contrast little with the background.