title: Effect of locomotor approach on feeding kinematics in the green anole (Anolis carolinensis).
abstract: Squamates are well-known models for studying to examine locomotor and feeding behaviors in tetrapods, but studies that integrate both behavioral activities remain scarce. Anolis lizards are a classical lineage to study the evolutionary relationships between locomotor behavior and complex structural features of the habitat. Here, we analyzed prey-capture behavior in one representative arboreal predator, Anolis carolinensis, to demonstrate the functional links between locomotor strategies and the kinematics of feeding. A. carolinensis uses two strategies to catch living insects on perches: Head-Up Capture and Jump Capture. In both cases, lizards use lingual prehension to capture the prey and the kinematic patterns of the trophic apparatus are not significantly influenced by the selected strategies. Therefore, to capture one prey type, movements of the trophic structures are highly fixed and A. carolinensis modulates the locomotor pattern to exploit the environment. Predation behavior in A. carolinensis integrates two different behavioral patterns: locomotor plasticity of prey-approach and biomechanical stereotypy of tongue prehension to successfully capture the prey.
authors.affiliation: UMR 7179 Mécanismes adaptatifs: des organismes aux communautés, Département Ecologie et Gestion de la Biodiversité, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 57 rue Cuvier, Paris cedex, France. montuelle@mnhn.fr
authors.forename: Stéphane J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Montuelle
authors.forename: Gheylen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Daghfous
authors.forename: Vincent L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Bels
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D005431:Florida; D008116:Lizards / Q000502:physiology*; D008124:Locomotion / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D011235:Predatory Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D014059:Tongue / Q000502:physiology*