Brazil (e-mail: danmesq@unb.br); and FREDERICO G. R.
FRANCA, Universidade de Brasilia, P6s-graduacao em Ecologia,
70910-900, Brasilia, Brazil (e-mail: fredgrf@terra.com.br).
CTENOPHORUS FIONNI (Peninsula Dragon Lizard).
CANNIBALISM. Cannibalism has been reported in many reptiles
(Mitchell 1986. Cannibalism in Reptiles: A Worldwide Review.
SSAR, Oxford, Ohio. 37 pp.), but has rarely been recorded among
Australian agamids. One such agamid, Ctenophorus fionni, is
restricted to rocky habitats on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia.
Little is known of this medium-sized lizard (96 mm max. SVL),
which seems to be largely insectivorous (Johnston 1997.
Behavioural Ecology of the Peninsula Dragon lizard Ctenophorus
fionni. Ph.D. dissertation. Flinders University, Adelaide, 307 pp.).
Here, I report the first record of cannibalism for this species.
During a mark-recapture study of C. fionni on 2 February 1992,
I caught an adult male (71.5 mm SVL, 14.0 g) at Secret Rocks
(33°12'S, 135°51'E; elev. 279 m), South Australia. While
processing this lizard, I found a second, recently killed individual
of the same species in his gullet. The dead lizard was subsequently
regurgitated (Fig. 1). The size of the regurgitated lizard (32 mm
SVL) and the timing of the observation indicate that it was a
hatchling (Johnston 1999 J. Herpetol. 33:694-698). After being
photographed, the adult male was released and the dead juvenile
was discarded.
The South Australian National Parks & Wildlife Service, and
the Hinders University Animal Ethics Committee granted permits
for this work.
Flu. 1. Male Ctenophorus fionni regurgitating a conspecific juvenile,
Secret Rocks, South Australia, 2 February 1992.
Submitted by GREG JOHNSTON, Royal Zoological Society
of South Australia, Adelaide Zoo, Frome Road, Adelaide 5000,
Australia; e-mail: gjohnston@adelaidezoo.com.au.
Herpetological Review 36(2), 2005
CYCLURA CYCHLURA INORNATA (Allen Cays Iguana).
MORTALITY. Mortality in adult Cyclura cychlura is rarely
reported. Apart from recent records of predation on Cyclura c.
cychlura on Andros Island in the Bahamas (Knapp 2004. Caribbean
J. Sci. 40:265-269), no observations of natural mortality are
recorded for this species (e.g., see Coenen 1995. Bahamas J. Sci.
2:8-14). Hence, we report a distinctive instance of mortality from
the Allen Cays, northern Exuma Islands, Bahamas.
During mid-afternoon 12 May 2004, we discovered a female
Allen Cay Iguana (27.0 cm SVL, 35.5 cm tail, 530 g) trapped
between the multiple trunks of a tree (cf. Drypetes diversifolia
fide Sandra Buckner) on Leaf Cay, an island in the Allen Cays
(Fig. 1; see Iverson et al. 2004. Herpetol. Monogr. 18:1-36 for
map and aerial photograph). This female was originally toe-clipped
and PIT-tagged on 11 March 1998 at a SVL of 26.2 cm and an
estimated age of 12.5 years; she had been recaptured during field
work in 2001, 2002, and 2003 (weighing 705 g at the last capture).
She was lethargic and somewhat emaciated when removed from
between the branches, weighing 148 g less than estimated based
on a regression equation relating SVL to mass for 168 other females
captured on Leaf Cay during the same trip. She was still very
sluggish when released 48 h later, following attempts to rehydrate
her and nourish her with force-fed bananas. Although this iguana
was still alive when discovered, we had previously found three
mummified carcasses or nearly intact skeletons of subadult or small
adult Allen Cay iguanas wedged between tree trunks on Leaf Cay
in June 2001, and one on nearby U Cay (= Southwest Allen Cay)
in May 2002. We also observed a mummified carcass of an adult
Cyclura rileyi on Bush Hill Cay in the Exuma Land and Sea Park,
central Bahamas on 21 May 2003 that had been similarly trapped
in the crotch of a tree.
No predators capable of wedging an iguana between tree trunks
occur on these islands. However, arboreality is common in the
genus Cyclura (Iverson 1979. Bull. Florida St. Mus. Biol. Sci.
24:175-358), and the observed mortality likely occurred as
individuals descended from trees where they had been feeding
and/or thermoregulating. Many West Indian trees have multiple
trunks and smooth bark; we suspect that the often poorly controlled
descent (i.e., sliding) of these iguanas down tree trunks creates
enough momentum to sometimes pin them between tree trunks
such that they are unable to extricate themselves. This would
explain why we have never observed the phenomenon in young
iguanas or smaller cohabiting lizard species despite over 18,000
person-hours of field work over 25 years. The lack of similar
observations for large adult C. cychlura may be a function of their
reduced arboreality. This form of accidental death might occur
with some frequency among subadult or small adult West Indian
rock iguanas. We are unaware of similar records of mortality for
any other lizard.
Submitted by JOHN B. IVERSON, Department of Biology,
Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana 47374, USA (e-mail:
johni@earlham.edu); DAVID P. YOUNG, Western Ecosystems
Technology, Inc., 2003 Central Avenue, Cheyenne, Wyoming
82001, USA; CAMERON A. YOUNG, Savannah River Ecology
Laboratory, Drawer E, Aiken, South Carolina 29803, USA; and
CHAUNDRA SCHOFIELD, Smithsonian Environmental
Research Center, Marine Invasions Research Laboratory, 647
Contees Wharf Road, Edgewater, Maryland 21037, USA.
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