Body lifting, flattening, and burying of Tropidurus catalanensis Gudynas & Skuk, 1983 (Squamata, Tropiduridae): Defense, thermoregulation, or both?

Abstract

Lizards of the genus Tropidurus display different behaviors for thermoregulation and defense. Here, we report new displays for Tropidurus catalanensis, which helps to understand how these lizards behave. Captive individuals lifted, flattened, and buried their bodies. Flattening and upstanding the bodies allow looking larger and may discourage attacks, as well as respectively enhance and decrease the approximation and the contact of body surfaces with substrates to thermoregulate. Burying themselves into earth and sand may help lizards to avoid or escape from menaces. When we first opened the containers, the T. catalanensis were already partially covered by vermiculite, which did not allow stating if they did it in response to supposed risks of predation because perceived the movements in the room or were already buried. Tropidurus catalanensis possibly may bury themselves to avoid detection during periods of inactivity. The self-burying behavior may be useful also for thermoregulation using substrate temperatures. Tropidurus catalanensis may increase the chances of getting out safe from dangerous interactions and of effective thermoregulation by performing such behaviors. Although we discussed the behaviors on the views of defense and thermoregulation, the body lifting, the flattening, and the burying seemed have occurred in a defensive context.