Predation of Lepidophyma flavimaculatum (Squamata: Xantusiidae) by Basiliscus plumifrons (Squamata: Corytophanidae)

Abstract

Lizards are the most diversified group of living reptiles with 7176 species worldwide (Uetz 2022). They play key roles in ecosystems where they are prey to a wide variety of predators, including snakes, other lizards, mammals, birds, and invertebrates (Pianka and Vitt 2006). The tropical forests of the new world contain a high variety of species of different sizes, shapes, and colors. In Costa Rica in particular, at least 80 species of lizards have been reported (Leenders 2019). They occupy highly diverse habitat types where they participate in food webs that involve many other species of vertebrates and invertebrates. Predatory interactions among lizards depend on the sizes of the individuals involved, and juveniles generally are preyed upon by adults of