| surf and turf: predation by egg-eating snakes has led to the evolution of parental care in a terrestrial lizard. | animals display a great diversity of parental care tactics that ultimately enhance offspring survival, but how such behaviors evolve remains unknown for most systems. here, we studied the evolution of maternal care, in the form of nest guarding, in a single population of long-tailed sun skink (eutropis longicaudata) living on orchid island (taiwan). this species typically does not provide protection to its offspring. using a common garden experiment, we show that maternal care is genetically det ... | 2016 | 26915464 |
| territorial behavior in taiwanese kukrisnakes (oligodon formosanus). | the independent evolutionary origin of a complex trait, within a lineage otherwise lacking it, provides a powerful opportunity to test hypotheses on selective forces. territorial defense of an area containing resources (such as food or shelter) is widespread in lizards but not snakes. our studies on an insular population of taiwanese kukrisnakes (oligodon formosanus) show that females of this species actively defend sea turtle nests by repelling conspecifics for long periods (weeks) until the tu ... | 2011 | 21502515 |
| does maternal care evolve through egg recognition or directed territoriality? | the mechanism that facilitates the evolution of maternal care is ambiguous in egg-laying terrestrial vertebrates: does the ability of mothers to recognize their own eggs lead them under some circumstances to begin providing care or can maternal care evolve from simply being in close proximity to the eggs (e.g. through territorial behaviour)? this question is difficult to answer because in most species, parental care is either absent altogether or present; in only a few species we have the opport ... | 2011 | 21649766 |
| when males live longer: resource-driven territorial behavior drives sex-specific survival in snakes. | phylogenetic analysis has shown that males' propensity to engage in aggressive encounters is associated with females having greater longevity. here, we confirm the causal link between aggression and reduced longevity by looking at an egg-eating snake (oligodon formosanus) in which females defend territories in the presence of sea turtle eggs. we monitored aggressiveness and survival at two sites: a control site with a stable supply of turtle eggs, and a second site where we collected data before ... | 2019 | 31032398 |