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Tail autotomy works as a pre‐capture defense by deflecting attacks

Laura A. Naidenov, William Allen Orcid Logo

Ecology and Evolution, Volume: 11, Issue: 7, Pages: 3058 - 3064

Swansea University Author: William Allen Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1002/ece3.7213

Abstract

Caudal autotomy is a dramatic antipredator adaptation where prey shed their tail in order to escape capture by a predator. The mechanism underlying the effectiveness of caudal autotomy as a pre-capture defense has not been thoroughly investigated. We tested two nonexclusive hypotheses, that caudal a...

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Published in: Ecology and Evolution
ISSN: 2045-7758 2045-7758
Published: Wiley 2021
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa58547
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first_indexed 2021-11-04T07:55:31Z
last_indexed 2021-11-24T04:16:03Z
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spelling 2021-11-23T16:34:34.2767706 v2 58547 2021-11-04 Tail autotomy works as a pre‐capture defense by deflecting attacks d6f01dd06d25fa8804daad86e251b8a5 0000-0003-2654-0438 William Allen William Allen true false 2021-11-04 SBI Caudal autotomy is a dramatic antipredator adaptation where prey shed their tail in order to escape capture by a predator. The mechanism underlying the effectiveness of caudal autotomy as a pre-capture defense has not been thoroughly investigated. We tested two nonexclusive hypotheses, that caudal autotomy works by providing the predator with a “consolation prize” that makes it break off the hunt to consume the shed tail, and the deflection hypothesis, where the autotomy event directs predator attacks to the autotomized tail enabling prey escape. Our experiment utilized domestic dogs Canis familiaris as model predator engaged to chase a snake-like stimulus with a detachable tail. The tail was manipulated to vary in length (long versus short) and conspicuousness (green versus blue), with the prediction that dog attacks on the tail should increase with length under the consolation-prize hypothesis and conspicuous color under the deflection hypothesis. The tail was attacked on 35% of trials, supporting the potential for pre-capture autotomy to offer antipredator benefits. Dogs were attracted to the tail when it was conspicuously colored, but not when it was longer. This supports the idea that deflection of predator attacks through visual effects is the prime antipredator mechanism underlying the effectiveness of caudal autotomy as opposed to provision of a consolation prize meal. Journal Article Ecology and Evolution 11 7 3058 3064 Wiley 2045-7758 2045-7758 animal coloration; antipredator defense; autotomy; caudal autotomy; deflection; squamate 2 4 2021 2021-04-02 10.1002/ece3.7213 COLLEGE NANME Biosciences COLLEGE CODE SBI Swansea University 2021-11-23T16:34:34.2767706 2021-11-04T07:52:28.7976340 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences Laura A. Naidenov 1 William Allen 0000-0003-2654-0438 2 58547__21427__305517cc692040e698566fe4a15a1b9e.pdf Naidenov & Allen 2021 Tail autotomy works as a pre-capture defense by deflecting attacks.pdf 2021-11-04T07:53:48.6223095 Output 486107 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2021 The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Tail autotomy works as a pre‐capture defense by deflecting attacks
spellingShingle Tail autotomy works as a pre‐capture defense by deflecting attacks
William Allen
title_short Tail autotomy works as a pre‐capture defense by deflecting attacks
title_full Tail autotomy works as a pre‐capture defense by deflecting attacks
title_fullStr Tail autotomy works as a pre‐capture defense by deflecting attacks
title_full_unstemmed Tail autotomy works as a pre‐capture defense by deflecting attacks
title_sort Tail autotomy works as a pre‐capture defense by deflecting attacks
author_id_str_mv d6f01dd06d25fa8804daad86e251b8a5
author_id_fullname_str_mv d6f01dd06d25fa8804daad86e251b8a5_***_William Allen
author William Allen
author2 Laura A. Naidenov
William Allen
format Journal article
container_title Ecology and Evolution
container_volume 11
container_issue 7
container_start_page 3058
publishDate 2021
institution Swansea University
issn 2045-7758
2045-7758
doi_str_mv 10.1002/ece3.7213
publisher Wiley
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description Caudal autotomy is a dramatic antipredator adaptation where prey shed their tail in order to escape capture by a predator. The mechanism underlying the effectiveness of caudal autotomy as a pre-capture defense has not been thoroughly investigated. We tested two nonexclusive hypotheses, that caudal autotomy works by providing the predator with a “consolation prize” that makes it break off the hunt to consume the shed tail, and the deflection hypothesis, where the autotomy event directs predator attacks to the autotomized tail enabling prey escape. Our experiment utilized domestic dogs Canis familiaris as model predator engaged to chase a snake-like stimulus with a detachable tail. The tail was manipulated to vary in length (long versus short) and conspicuousness (green versus blue), with the prediction that dog attacks on the tail should increase with length under the consolation-prize hypothesis and conspicuous color under the deflection hypothesis. The tail was attacked on 35% of trials, supporting the potential for pre-capture autotomy to offer antipredator benefits. Dogs were attracted to the tail when it was conspicuously colored, but not when it was longer. This supports the idea that deflection of predator attacks through visual effects is the prime antipredator mechanism underlying the effectiveness of caudal autotomy as opposed to provision of a consolation prize meal.
published_date 2021-04-02T04:15:09Z
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score 11.037056

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