Authors
Raymond B Huey, Eric R Pianka
Publication date
1981
Journal
Ecology
Volume
62
Pages
991-999
Publisher
Ecological Society of America
Description
Desert lizards are typically either widely foraging or sit—and—wait predators, and these foraging modes are correlated with major differences in ecology. Foraging mode is related to the type of prey eaten by lizards. Widely foraging lizards in the Kalahari desert, the Western Australian desert, and the North American desert generally eat more prey that are sedentary, unpredictably distributed, and clumped (e.g., termites) or that are large and inaccessible (inactive scorpions) than do sit—and—wait lizards. In contrast, sit—and—wait lizards eat more prey that are active. Foraging mode also appears to influence the types of predators that in turn eat the lizards. For example, a sit—and—wait snake eats predominately widely foraging lizards. Crossovers in foraging mode thus exist between trophic levels. Widely foraging lizards may also encounter predators more frequently, as suggested by analyses of relative tail lengths …
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