Predators learning to avoid toxic invasive prey: a study on individual variation among free-ranging lizards

Behaviour ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 157 (14-15) ◽  
pp. 1153-1172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georgia Ward-Fear ◽  
Gregory P. Brown ◽  
Richard Shine
Keyword(s):  
Taste Aversion ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Opportunity To Learn ◽  
Population Persistence ◽  
Wild Populations ◽  
Rhinella Marina ◽  
Behavioural Responses ◽  
Invasive Prey ◽  
Threatening Processes ◽  
Free Ranging

Abstract Within all wild populations, individuals vary in ways that affect their vulnerability to threatening processes. Understanding that variation may clarify mechanisms of population persistence and/or evolution. In Australia, Yellow-spotted Monitors (Varanus panoptes), decline by >90% when toxic Cane Toads (Rhinella marina) invade an area. Taste-aversion training (exposing animals to non-lethal toads) can buffer impacts; but does pre-existing behavioural variation also influence survival? An individual’s fate can be predicted from its behaviour during aversion-training trials. Lizards presented with small toads either consumed them, rejected them, or fled. When Cane Toads invaded our study site, mortality was lower in lizards that ‘consumed’ (aversion-trained) than in those that ‘fled’ (untrained), but even lower in lizards that ‘rejected’ toads outright. Thus, animals reluctant to consume toads in trials survived despite never being aversion-trained. In this system, lizard vulnerability is driven by boldness, behavioural responses to novel prey types, and the opportunity to learn aversion.

scholarly journals Ecological immunization: in situ training of free-ranging predatory lizards reduces their vulnerability to invasive toxic prey

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 20150863 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Ward-Fear ◽  
D. J. Pearson ◽  
G. P. Brown ◽  
Balanggarra Rangers ◽  
R. Shine
Keyword(s):  
Taste Aversion ◽  
Conditioned Taste Aversion ◽  
Population Declines ◽  
Apex Predators ◽  
Rhinella Marina ◽  
Invasion Front ◽  
In Situ Training ◽  
Free Ranging ◽  
The Impact

In Australia, large native predators are fatally poisoned when they ingest invasive cane toads ( Rhinella marina ). As a result, the spread of cane toads has caused catastrophic population declines in these predators. Immediately prior to the arrival of toads at a floodplain in the Kimberley region, we induced conditioned taste aversion in free-ranging varanid lizards ( Varanus panoptes ), by offering them small cane toads. By the end of the 18-month study, only one of 31 untrained lizards had survived longer than 110 days, compared to more than half (nine of 16) of trained lizards; the maximum known survival of a trained lizard in the presence of toads was 482 days. In situ aversion training (releasing small toads in advance of the main invasion front) offers a logistically simple and feasible way to buffer the impact of invasive toads on apex predators.

scholarly journals Single compounds elicit complex behavioural responses in wild, free-ranging rats

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D. Jackson ◽  
Robert A. Keyzers ◽  
Wayne L. Linklater
Keyword(s):  
Behavioural Responses ◽  
Free Ranging

scholarly journals Feline Foamy Virus is Highly Prevalent in Free-Ranging Puma concolor from Colorado, Florida and Southern California

Viruses ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah R. Kechejian ◽  
Nick Dannemiller ◽  
Simona Kraberger ◽  
Carmen Ledesma-Feliciano ◽  
Jennifer Malmberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Southern California ◽  
Viral Infections ◽  
Puma Concolor ◽  
Foamy Virus ◽  
Significant Risk ◽  
Significant Risk Factor ◽  
Domestic Cat ◽  
Wild Populations ◽  
High Prevalence ◽  
Free Ranging

Feline foamy virus (FFV) is a retrovirus that has been detected in multiple feline species, including domestic cats (Felis catus) and pumas (Puma concolor). FFV results in persistent infection but is generally thought to be apathogenic. Sero-prevalence in domestic cat populations has been documented in several countries, but the extent of viral infections in nondomestic felids has not been reported. In this study, we screened sera from 348 individual pumas from Colorado, Southern California and Florida for FFV exposure by assessing sero-reactivity using an FFV anti-Gag ELISA. We documented a sero-prevalence of 78.6% across all sampled subpopulations, representing 69.1% in Southern California, 77.3% in Colorado, and 83.5% in Florida. Age was a significant risk factor for FFV infection when analyzing the combined populations. This high prevalence in geographically distinct populations reveals widespread exposure of puma to FFV and suggests efficient shedding and transmission in wild populations.

scholarly journals Physiological and behavioural responses to weaning conflict in free-ranging primate infants

2014 ◽  
Vol 97 ◽  
pp. 241-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tara M. Mandalaywala ◽  
James P. Higham ◽  
Michael Heistermann ◽  
Karen J. Parker ◽  
Dario Maestripieri
Keyword(s):  
Behavioural Responses ◽  
Free Ranging

Behavioral-Response of Brushtail Possums, Trichosurus-Vulpecula, to Baits Used in Pest-Control

1990 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 601 ◽  
Author(s):  
DR Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Taste Aversion ◽  
Pest Control ◽  
Behavioral Response ◽  
Feeding Behaviour ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Initial Response ◽  
Trichosurus Vulpecula ◽  
Behavioural Responses ◽  
Learned Aversion ◽  
Control Programmes

The behavioural responses of captive possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) were observed during first encounters with non-toxic and toxic carrot and pellet baits used in pest control programmes. Possums confronted with new baits first used smell in a highly discriminating way, and then taste, which sometimes changed their initial response. Toxic carrot baits were rejected by 27.5% of possums, equally by smell and taste aversion, and toxic pellet baits by 34% of possums, mainly by taste aversion. Few (5-7%) rejected non-toxic baits. Such non-learned aversion mechanisms therefore have an important role in the feeding behaviour of possums. A range of flavours tested, using barley as a food base, showed that only orange-flavored barley was significantly preferred to non-flavoured barley; 19 flavours had no significant effect, and 19 others significantly reduced barley consumption. Orange and cinnamon, which was ranked fourth and repels some bird species, were tested as masks for 1080 baits. Both flavours effectively masked the aversive smell and taste of 1080. The levels of toxic flavoured bait rejection were low and did not differ from those of non-toxic (flavoured or non-flavoured) baits. Very few possums were observed vomiting, a behaviour in other species that may assist survival.

scholarly journals Sociality predicts individual variation in the immunity of free-ranging rhesus macaques

2021 ◽  
Vol 241 ◽  
pp. 113560
Author(s):  
Melissa A. Pavez-Fox ◽  
Josue E. Negron-Del Valle ◽  
Indya J. Thompson ◽  
Christopher S. Walker ◽  
Samuel E. Bauman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Individual Variation ◽  
Rhesus Macaques ◽  
Free Ranging

scholarly journals Direct and indirect causal effects of heterozygosity on fitness-related traits in Alpine ibex

2015 ◽  
Vol 282 (1798) ◽  
pp. 20141873 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice Brambilla ◽  
Iris Biebach ◽  
Bruno Bassano ◽  
Giuseppe Bogliani ◽  
Achaz von Hardenberg
Keyword(s):  
Path Analysis ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Causal Effects ◽  
Parasite Resistance ◽  
Wild Populations ◽  
Capra Ibex ◽  
Alpine Ibex ◽  
Horn Growth ◽  
Nematode Eggs ◽  
Free Ranging

Heterozygosity–fitness correlations (HFCs) are a useful tool to investigate the effects of inbreeding in wild populations, but are not informative in distinguishing between direct and indirect effects of heterozygosity on fitness-related traits. We tested HFCs in male Alpine ibex ( Capra ibex ) in a free-ranging population (which suffered a severe bottleneck at the end of the eighteenth century) and used confirmatory path analysis to disentangle the causal relationships between heterozygosity and fitness-related traits. We tested HFCs in 149 male individuals born between 1985 and 2009. We found that standardized multi-locus heterozygosity (MLH), calculated from 37 microsatellite loci, was related to body mass and horn growth, which are known to be important fitness-related traits, and to faecal egg counts (FECs) of nematode eggs, a proxy of parasite resistance. Then, using confirmatory path analysis, we were able to show that the effect of MLH on horn growth was not direct but mediated by body mass and FEC. HFCs do not necessarily imply direct genetic effects on fitness-related traits, which instead can be mediated by other traits in complex and unexpected ways.

scholarly journals A digital collection of rare and endangered lemurs and other primates from the Duke Lemur Center

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel S. Yapuncich ◽  
Addison D. Kemp ◽  
Darbi M. Griffith ◽  
Justin T. Gladman ◽  
Erin Ehmke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Data ◽  
Wild Populations ◽  
Digital Repository ◽  
Life History Data ◽  
3D Data ◽  
Rare And Endangered ◽  
Digital Collection ◽  
Duke University ◽  
Free Ranging ◽  
Endangered Animals

AbstractScientific study of lemurs, a group of primates found only on Madagascar, is crucial for understanding primate evolution. Unfortunately, lemurs are among the most endangered animals in the world, so there is a strong impetus to maximize as much scientific data as possible from available physical specimens. MicroCT scanning efforts at Duke University have resulted in scans of more than 100 strepsirrhine cadavers representing 18 species from the Duke Lemur Center. Scans include specimen overviews and focused, high-resolution selections of complex anatomical regions (e.g., cranium, hands, feet). Scans have been uploaded to MorphoSource, an online digital repository for 3D data. As captive (but free ranging) individuals, these specimens have a wealth of associated information that is largely unavailable for wild populations, including detailed life history data. This digital collection maximizes the information obtained from rare and endangered animals without degradation of the original specimens.

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