Habitat Preference of Trapelus agilis Olivier in Thar Desert of Jaisalmer, India

Chhaya Bhatnagar, Shyam Sunder Meena, Vishnu Narayan Pandey

Abstract


Preference in habitat selection by Trapelus agilis Olivier has been studied in nearby area of Amar sagar village and Garhisar Lake catchments area of Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. It has been observed that female of Agama agilis Olivier always lives in burrow. Most of the burrows remain covered by the shrubs of Capparis decidua (KER), Euphorbia (THOR), Salvadora oleoides (JAL), and Leptadaenia (KHEEP). Males never dig burrows and remain hidden under the stones, between the stones, cervices of stones and sometime in the burrow of female of agama, other lizards and rodents for short time. It has been concluded that the habitat selection and preference in Trapelus agilis depends on the local environment, sex, body size, morphology and feeding habit.

Keywords


Trapelus; habitat; preference; desert; burrow

Full Text:

PDF

References


Al-Hazmi M. A. (2001), «Feeding behavior and food selection of Dhab Uromastyx microlepisi from wild vegetation», Qatar Univ. Sci. J., 21, 65 – 73.

Ananjeva N. B., Orlov N. L., and Truong N. Q. (2007), «Agamid lizards (Agamidae, Acrodonta, Sauria, Reptilia) of Vietnam», Mitteil. Mus. Naturkunde Berlin. Zool. Reihe, Suppl. 83, 13 – 21.

Bradshaw S. D. (1965), The Comparative Ecology of the Lizards of the Genus Amphibolurus. Ph.D. Thesis, Univ. Western Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia.

Brown J. N. B. (1982), «Spiny-tailed agamid — Uromastyx microlepis (Arabic Dhub)», Emirates Nat. Hist. Bull., No. 16, 20.

Clemann N., Melville J., Ananjeva N. B., Scroggie M. P., Milto K., and Kreuzberg E. (2008), «Microhabitat occupation and functional morphology of four species of sympatric agamid lizards in the Kyzylkum Desert, central Uzbekistan», Animal Biodiv. Conserv., 31(2), 51 – 62.

Cogger H. G. (1969), A Study of the Ecology and Biology of the Mallee Dragon (Amphilurus fordi) and Its Adaptation to Survive in Arid Environment. Ph.D. Thesis, Macquarie Univ., Eastwood, New South Wales, Australia.

Cunningham P. L. (2001), «Notes on the diet, survival rate and burrow specifics of Uromastyx aegyptius microlepis from United Arab Emirates», Asiatic Herpetol. Res., 9, 30 – 33.

Heatwole H. (1970), «Thermal ecology of the desert dragon Amphilurus inermis», Ecol. Monogr., 40, 425 – 457.

Jayne B. C. and Irschick D. J. (2000), «A field study of incline use and preferred speeds for the locomotion of lizards», Ecology, 81, 2969 – 2983.

Jongbloed M. (1997), «Observation in Dhub colony», Tribulus, 7(2), 23 – 24.

Khan M. Z. and Mahmood N. (2004), «Study of population status and Natural History of Agamid lizards of Karachi», Pakistan J. Biol. Sci., 7(11), 1942 – 1945.

Lovegrove B. G. and Knight Eloff. A. (1988), «Soil and burrow temperature and resource characteristics of the social mole rat Cryptomys damarensis (Bathyergidae) in the Kalahari desert», J. Zool. Lond., 216, 403 – 413.

Nasrullah R. P. (1999), «Two new sub species of Trapelus agilis complex (Sauria: Agamidae) from low land Southwestern Iran and Southeastern Pakistan», Asiatic Herpetol. Res., 8, 90 – 101.

Newbold T. A. (2005), «Desert horned lizard (Phrynosoma platyrhinos) locomotor performance: The influence of Cheat grass (Bromus tectorum)», The Southwestern Naturalist, 50(1), 17 – 23.

Pianka E. R. (1971a), «Comparative ecology of two lizards», Copeia, 1971(1), 129 – 138.

Pianka E. R. (1971b), «Ecology, of Agamid lizard Amphibolurus isolepis in Western Australia», Copeia, 1971(3), 527 – 536.

Storr G. M. (1965), The Amphilurus maculates species-group (Lacertilia, Agamidae) in Western Australia», J. Roy. West. Austral., 48, 45 – 54.

Williams J. B., Tielman B. I., and Shobrack M. (2000), «Lizard burrows provide thermal refugia for larks in the Arabian desert», The Condor, 101(3), 714 – 717.




DOI: https://doi.org/10.30906/1026-2296-2012-19-3-207–211

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


You can subscribe to the print or electronic version of the journal on the site of EastView Company. If you have any questions, please write to the email sales@ivis.ru