Habitat Specificity in Three Sympatric Species of Ameiva (Reptilia: Teiidae)
1969
Hillman, Peter E.
Three sympatric species of Ameiva in Costa Rica (A. quadrilineata, A. festiva, and A. leptophrys) were found in distinct habitats with respect to vegetation cover, a ground isolation, environmental temperatures, surface litter, and activity periods. Ameiva quadrilineata commonly forages in an area of open, low vegetation cover adjacent to bare soil. Its habitat is sunnier and warmer than those occupied by the other two Ameiva. A. festiva usually forages in the open edge of forests are lower where somewhat lower percentages of ground are exposed to direct sunlight and there are lower environmental temperatures than in the habitat of A. quadrilineata. Its peak of foraging activity is later in the morning than is that of A. leptophrys. Adult a. leptophrys forage even deeper into the forest than the other two species where even less of the ground surface is insolated, the ground substrate temperatures are lower, and there is a higher percentage of ground litter. However, this species basks in the same area in which A. festiva forages, but earlier in the morning. Newly hatched A. leptophrys are found in an ecological habitat distinct from that of the adults, but very similar to that of adult A. festiva. There appeared to be no differences in gut contents among the three species with respect to type of food items. However, A quadrilineata contained slightly smaller sized food items than did the other two species. Body temperatures while foraging were very similar in all three species, but were maintained under very different sunlight conditions and microclimatic temperatures.
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