Pursuit deterrence in lizards

Abstract EN

The notion that prey might signal predators that they have been detected and that the prey are capable of escape was initially met with some skepticism, but considerable evidence now shows that such pursuit-deterrent signals take many forms in diverse prey taxa.

Evidence shows that three species of lizards direct signals to predators by behavioral displays in a manner consistent with pursuit-deterrence and inconsistent with alternative hypotheses.

I review the evidence for pursuit deterrence by lizards that perform distinctive tail displays or displays otherwise used during intraspecific social encounters.

To stimulate new research, I indicate areas where the evidence is weak; suggest possible pursuit deterrent functions of postures indicating alertness, escape intention movements, and withdrawal for only a short distance from the predator, and emphasize the need for direct evidence that putative pursuit-deterrent signals reduce the probability of being attacked.