Ecological factors influencing the antipredator behaviors of the ground skink, Scincella lateralis

I tested several hypotheses regarding the antipredator behaviours of ground skinks (Scincella lateralis) based on a simple-optimality model for avoiding predation. Field studies demonstrated that S. lateralis with lower body temperatures fled earlier in predatory events when the predator was farther away than did warmer animals. This may reflect a compensatory shift in behavior related to decreased sprint speeds observed at lower temperatures. These differences in maximum sprint speeds at five substrate temperatures were not linked to morphological characteristics such as mass, snout-vent length, or tail length. Body temperatures of S. lateralis were highly correlated with substrate temperatures in the field, and these environmental temperatures correlated with the daily and seasonal activity schedules of S. lateralis. The thermoregulatory strategy of ground skinks closely parallels theoretical predictions for forest-dwelling lizards based on optimum performance curves. In the laboratory, S. lateralis did not alter flight responses based on the availability of cover objects or tail condition of the lizards. Escape behaviors of males and females did not differ. Likewise, S. lateralis showed no differences in response to differently sized predator models. Differences were found between the reactions of adult and juvenile skinks to an approaching predator model. Also, S. lateralis collected in Louisiana fled from the same predator model with greater frequency than S. lateralis collected in Oklahoma.