title: On the amphibious food uptake and prey manipulation behavior in the Balkan-Anatolian crested newt (Triturus ivanbureschi, Arntzen and Wielstra, 2013).
abstract: Feeding behavior in salamanders undergoing seasonal habitat shifts poses substantial challenges caused by differences in the physical properties of air and water. Adapting to these specific environments, urodelans use suction feeding predominantly under water as opposed to lingual food prehension on land. This study aims to determine the functionality of aquatic and terrestrial feeding behavior in the Balkan-Anatolian crested newt (Triturus ivanbureschi) in its terrestrial stage. During the terrestrial stage, these newts feed frequently in water where they use hydrodynamic mechanisms for prey capture. On land, prey apprehension is accomplished mainly by lingual prehension, while jaw prehension seems to be the exception (16.67%) in all terrestrial prey capture events. In jaw prehension events there was no detectable depression of the hyo-lingual complex. The success of terrestrial prey capture was significantly higher when T. ivanbureschi used lingual prehension. In addition to prey capture, we studied the mechanisms involved in the subduction of prey. In both media, the newts frequently used a shaking behavior to immobilize the captured earthworms. Apparently, prey shaking constitutes a significant element in the feeding behavior of T. ivanbureschi. Prey immobilization was applied more frequently during underwater feeding, which necessitates a discussion of the influence of the feeding media on food manipulation. We also investigated the osteology of the cranio-cervical complex in T. ivanbureschi to compare it to that of the predominantly terrestrial salamandrid Salamandra salamandra.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, blvd. Tzar Osvoboditel 1, 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: Simeon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lukanov
authors.affiliation: Section Vertebrates, National Museum of Natural History, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Tzar Osvoboditel 1, 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: Nikolay
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tzankov
authors.affiliation: VetCore Facility for Research, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Veterinärplatz 1, A-1210 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Handschuh
authors.affiliation: Institute of Systematic Zoology and Evolutionary Biology, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Erbertstr. 1, D-07743 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Egon
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Heiss
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, blvd. Tzar Osvoboditel 1, 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: Borislav
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Naumov
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrative Zoology, Vienna University, Althanstrasse 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria; Faculty of Natural Science, Shumen University, Universitetska 115, 9700 Shumen, Bulgaria. Electronic address: nikolay.natchev@univie.ac.at.
authors.forename: Nikolay
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Natchev
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D004435:Eating; D009142:Musculoskeletal Physiological Phenomena; D009141:Musculoskeletal System / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D011235:Predatory Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D012455:Salamandridae / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Feeding behavior; Prey capture; Prey shaking; Urodela