Publication Date:
2016-01-01
Description:
Reporting the diet of recently extinct or very rare taxa, only known by a few museum specimens, is challenging. This study uses X-ray microtomography, a non-destructive investigation method, to obtain the first data about feeding behaviours in the Montserrat galliwasp ( Diploglossus montisserrati ) by scanning one of the two specimens known to date. The scans revealed the occurrence of shell fragments of a freshwater snail ( Omalonyx matheroni ) in the digestive tract of the specimen. This data combined with morphological evidence shows the occurrence of a durophagous feeding habit and a possible tendency of association with freshwater environments. This information could be crucial to save this critically endangered lizard endemic on Montserrat island.
Keywords:
behaviour, ecology, evolution
Electronic ISSN:
2054-5703
Topics:
Natural Sciences in General
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