OBSERVATIONS ON THE NESTING BEHAVIOR OF THE YUCATAN SPINY-TAILED IGUANA Cachryx defensor (SQUAMATA: IGUANIDAE) IN ITS NATURAL HABITAT

We describe the first record of a wild nest of the Yucatan Spiny-tailed Iguana (Cachryx defensor) in its natural habitat, with notes on probable nesting guarding behavior and nest site fidelity. On 22 March 2022, an adult female C. defensor was found inside a shelter in a hollow trunk of a black-sap...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Gil-Escobedo, Johana, Salazar-Asencio, Gilberto, Yanes-Morán, Frida, Chinchilla-Putzeys, Christian, García-Anleu, Rony, Luis-Valenzuela, Seyner, García, Walter, Echeverría-Méndez, Adriana, Ariano Sánchez, Daniel
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:México
Institución:UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL AUTÓNOMA DE MÉXICO
Repositorio:Revista Latinoamericana de Herpetología
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs.herpetologia.fciencias.unam.mx:article/969
Acceso en línea:https://herpetologia.fciencias.unam.mx/index.php/revista/article/view/969
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Fidelidad al sitio de anidación
reptiles
bosque seco
Metopium brownei
Guatemala
Nesting site fidelity
dry forest
Descripción
Sumario:We describe the first record of a wild nest of the Yucatan Spiny-tailed Iguana (Cachryx defensor) in its natural habitat, with notes on probable nesting guarding behavior and nest site fidelity. On 22 March 2022, an adult female C. defensor was found inside a shelter in a hollow trunk of a black-sap poisonwood (Metopium brownei), a toxic tree typical of the seasonally dry tropical forest and thorn scrub of Mirador-Rio Azul National Park, in far northern Guatemala. On closer inspection of the shelter, a clutch of three recently laid eggs was found in the trunk cavity above a bed of wood debris inside the hollow trunk. Several egg-shell fragments of what seems to be a clutch from the year before our finding were also observed.