The crocodile lizard (Shinisaurus crocodilurus) mainly preys on small animals including insects, spiders, earthworms, frogs and fish, but whether it can prey on relatively large animals like other reptiles is unknown yet. Here we reported for the first time that crocodile lizards preyed on an oriental garden lizard (Calotes versicolor) and a greater green snake (Cyclophiops major). The predation process was observed and analyzed using all occurrence sampling. This discovery indicates that the crocodile lizard has a wide diet, and is capable of preying on large animals like lizards. Therefore, we recommend that a diversity of foods should be provided to crocodile lizards in captivity to avoid malnutrition.
Reference
Related
Cited by
Get Citation
YANG Yu-Jie, 曾治高, 王坤, 罗树毅, 阳春生, 何家松, 武正军,NIE Hai-Yan. 2019. Predation on Lizards and Snakes by Crocodile Lizards. Chinese Journal of Zoology, 54(2): 293-297.