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First published online December 15, 2004
Journal of Experimental Biology 208, 113-127 (2005)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2005
doi: 10.1242/jeb.01345

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Prey capture kinematics of ant-eating lizards

Jay J. Meyers^1,* and Anthony Herrel²

¹ Physiology and Functional Morphology Group, Department of Biological Sciences Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011-5640, USA
² Laboratory of Functional Morphology, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium B-2610

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: jjm{at}dana.ucc.nau.edu)

Accepted 13 October 2004

While morphological and behavioral feeding specializations are obvious in many vertebrate groups, among lizards there appear to be few dietary specialists. By comparing the prey capture kinematics and overall feeding behavior in two highly specialized ant-eating lizards (Moloch horridus and Phrynosoma platyrhinos) with those of two closely related dietary generalists (Pogona vitticeps and Uma notata), we investigate whether dietary specialization has been accompanied by changes in the function and use of the feeding system. We quantified kinematic variables from high-speed video recordings (200-250 frames s^-1) of each species feeding on ants. Prey capture was strikingly different in M. horridus to that of other species, being characterized by a suite of unusual behaviors including the lack of a body lunge, faster tongue protrusion, reduced prey processing and, most notably, the ability to modulate the slow open phase of the gape cycle. In concert, these traits make a single feeding event in M. horridus faster than that in any other iguanian lizard studied to date. Prey capture behavior in P. platyrhinos is kinematically more similar to U. notata and P. vitticeps than to M. horridus, but the ant specialists are similar in that both lack distinct prey processing behaviors, resulting in faster overall capture and feeding events. While ant feeding in P. vitticeps is faster than feeding on other prey, the duration of a single feeding event is still four times longer than in either ant specialist, because of extensive prey processing. Additionally, a phylogenetic comparison of ant specialist lizards with dietary generalists revealed that ant-eating lizards require significantly less time to capture and process prey. Thus there are not only significant behavioral modifications in these ant-eating lizards, but also multiple strategies among specialists, suggesting differing selective pressures or phylogenetic constraints in the evolution of ant eating in lizards.

Key words: lizard, iguania, prey capture, feeding, ant eating, myrmecophagy, Moloch, Phrynosoma, Pogona, Uma

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