Native reptiles alter their foraging in the presence of the olfactory cues of invasive mammalian predators
Invasive mammalian predators are linked to terrestrial vertebrate extinctions worldwide. Prey naïveté may explain the large impact invasive predators have on native prey; prey may fail to detect and react appropriately to the cues of novel predators, which results in high levels of depredation. In A...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.180136 https://doaj.org/article/f1e984fd5cbf43c7960978b1a9d1b2ec |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:f1e984fd5cbf43c7960978b1a9d1b2ec 2023-05-15T15:51:01+02:00 Native reptiles alter their foraging in the presence of the olfactory cues of invasive mammalian predators C. Webster M. Massaro D. R. Michael D. Bambrick J. L. Riley D. G. Nimmo 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.180136 https://doaj.org/article/f1e984fd5cbf43c7960978b1a9d1b2ec EN eng The Royal Society https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.180136 https://doaj.org/toc/2054-5703 2054-5703 doi:10.1098/rsos.180136 https://doaj.org/article/f1e984fd5cbf43c7960978b1a9d1b2ec Royal Society Open Science, Vol 5, Iss 10 (2018) prey naïveté predator–prey invasive mammalian predators olfaction feral cat red fox Science Q article 2018 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.180136 2022-12-31T04:17:31Z Invasive mammalian predators are linked to terrestrial vertebrate extinctions worldwide. Prey naïveté may explain the large impact invasive predators have on native prey; prey may fail to detect and react appropriately to the cues of novel predators, which results in high levels of depredation. In Australia, the feral cat (Felis catus) and the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) are implicated in more than 30 animal extinctions and the naïveté of native prey is often used to explain this high extinction rate. Reptiles are one group of animals that are heavily preyed upon by F. catus and V. vulpes. However, very few studies have examined whether reptiles are naive to their cues. In this study, we examine the ability of two native reptile species (Morethia boulengeri and Christinus marmoratus) to detect and distinguish between the chemical cues of two invasive predators (V. vulpes and F. catus) and three native predators (spotted-tailed quoll, Dasyurus maculatus; dingo, Canis lupus dingo; eastern brown snake, Pseudonaja textilis), as well as two non-predator controls (eastern grey kangaroo, Macropus giganteus and water). We conducted experiments to quantify the effects of predator scents on lizard foraging (the amount of food eaten) during 1 h trials within Y-maze arenas. We found both study species reduced the amount they consumed when exposed to predator scents—both native and invasive—indicating that these species are not naive to invasive predators. An evolved generalized predator-recognition system, rapid evolution or learned behaviour could each explain the lack of naïveté in some native Australian reptiles towards invasive predators. Article in Journal/Newspaper Canis lupus Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Giganteus ENVELOPE(62.500,62.500,-67.567,-67.567) Royal Society Open Science 5 10 180136 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
prey naïveté predator–prey invasive mammalian predators olfaction feral cat red fox Science Q |
spellingShingle |
prey naïveté predator–prey invasive mammalian predators olfaction feral cat red fox Science Q C. Webster M. Massaro D. R. Michael D. Bambrick J. L. Riley D. G. Nimmo Native reptiles alter their foraging in the presence of the olfactory cues of invasive mammalian predators |
topic_facet |
prey naïveté predator–prey invasive mammalian predators olfaction feral cat red fox Science Q |
description |
Invasive mammalian predators are linked to terrestrial vertebrate extinctions worldwide. Prey naïveté may explain the large impact invasive predators have on native prey; prey may fail to detect and react appropriately to the cues of novel predators, which results in high levels of depredation. In Australia, the feral cat (Felis catus) and the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) are implicated in more than 30 animal extinctions and the naïveté of native prey is often used to explain this high extinction rate. Reptiles are one group of animals that are heavily preyed upon by F. catus and V. vulpes. However, very few studies have examined whether reptiles are naive to their cues. In this study, we examine the ability of two native reptile species (Morethia boulengeri and Christinus marmoratus) to detect and distinguish between the chemical cues of two invasive predators (V. vulpes and F. catus) and three native predators (spotted-tailed quoll, Dasyurus maculatus; dingo, Canis lupus dingo; eastern brown snake, Pseudonaja textilis), as well as two non-predator controls (eastern grey kangaroo, Macropus giganteus and water). We conducted experiments to quantify the effects of predator scents on lizard foraging (the amount of food eaten) during 1 h trials within Y-maze arenas. We found both study species reduced the amount they consumed when exposed to predator scents—both native and invasive—indicating that these species are not naive to invasive predators. An evolved generalized predator-recognition system, rapid evolution or learned behaviour could each explain the lack of naïveté in some native Australian reptiles towards invasive predators. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
C. Webster M. Massaro D. R. Michael D. Bambrick J. L. Riley D. G. Nimmo |
author_facet |
C. Webster M. Massaro D. R. Michael D. Bambrick J. L. Riley D. G. Nimmo |
author_sort |
C. Webster |
title |
Native reptiles alter their foraging in the presence of the olfactory cues of invasive mammalian predators |
title_short |
Native reptiles alter their foraging in the presence of the olfactory cues of invasive mammalian predators |
title_full |
Native reptiles alter their foraging in the presence of the olfactory cues of invasive mammalian predators |
title_fullStr |
Native reptiles alter their foraging in the presence of the olfactory cues of invasive mammalian predators |
title_full_unstemmed |
Native reptiles alter their foraging in the presence of the olfactory cues of invasive mammalian predators |
title_sort |
native reptiles alter their foraging in the presence of the olfactory cues of invasive mammalian predators |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.180136 https://doaj.org/article/f1e984fd5cbf43c7960978b1a9d1b2ec |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(62.500,62.500,-67.567,-67.567) |
geographic |
Giganteus |
geographic_facet |
Giganteus |
genre |
Canis lupus |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus |
op_source |
Royal Society Open Science, Vol 5, Iss 10 (2018) |
op_relation |
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.180136 https://doaj.org/toc/2054-5703 2054-5703 doi:10.1098/rsos.180136 https://doaj.org/article/f1e984fd5cbf43c7960978b1a9d1b2ec |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.180136 |
container_title |
Royal Society Open Science |
container_volume |
5 |
container_issue |
10 |
container_start_page |
180136 |
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1766386062066712576 |