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Herpetological Review 48(1), 2017
200 NATURAL HISTORY NOTES
observations are needed to better understand this unusual
morphology.
YUVAL ITESCU (e-mail: yuvitescu@gmail.com), AMIR LEWIN, ALEX
SLAVENKO, and SHAI MEIRI, Department of Zoology, Tel-Aviv University,
Tel-Aviv 69978, Israel; PANAYIOTIS PAFILIS, Section of Zoology and Ma-
rine Biology, Department of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University
of Athens, Panepistimioupolis, Ilissia, Athens 157-84, Greece.
POLYCHRUS MARMORATUS (Common Monkey Lizard). PRE-
DATION. Lizards are preyed on by many types of predators, from
spiders to larger vertebrates. Some lizards are preyed on by pri-
mates (Cassimiro and Martins 2011. Herpetol. Rev. 42:432–433;
Canale et al. 2013. Herpetol. Notes 6: 323–326; Aximoff and Car-
valho 2016. Herpetol. Rev. 47:298). Polychrus marmoratus is an
arboreal lizard species occurring in South America east of the
Andes in the Amazonian and Atlantic forests (Ávila-Pires 1995.
Zool. Verh. Leiden 299:1–708; Koski et al 2016. Bull. Mus. Biol.
Prof. Mello Leitão 38:23–30), and in the Cerrado biome, in central
Brazil (Nogueira et al. 2010. In Nogueira et al [eds.], Cerrado: Co-
nhecimento Científico Quantitativo como Subsídio para Ações de
Conservação, pp. 333–375. Editora UnB, Brasília). Geoffroy’s Mar-
moset (Callithrix geoffroyi) originally occurred throughout the
Brazilian Atlantic forest in the state of Espírito Santo, extending
into southern Bahia and adjacent parts of Minas Gerais (Rylands
et al. 1993. In Rylands et al [eds.], Marmosets and Tamarins: Sys-
tematics, Behaviour, and Ecology pp. 262–272. Oxford University,
Oxford). This marmoset is omnivorous, feeding mainly on gum,
fruits, arthropods, bird eggs, and small vertebrates. Herein, we re-
port predation of an adult P. marmoratus by C. geoffroyi.
The observation occurred in the “Alagados do Vale” region
(40.35551°S, 20.39276°W; WGS 84), Vila Velha municipality,
Espírito Santo State, southeastern Brazil. On 6 July 2014, an adult
C. geoffroyi was observed eating an adult P. marmoratus in a tree,
3 m above ground. While holding the lizard by its abdomen, the
marmoset consumed the head, followed by the forelimbs and the
abdomen. To our knowledge, this is the first report of predation
of P. marmoratus by C. geoffroyi.
We thank Izanildo Sabino for providing the details of the
predation event.
DIOGO A. KOSKI (e-mail: diogokoski@gmail.com) and ALINE P. VA-
LADARES-KOSKI, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Políticas e Sociais “Dom
Vasco Fernandes Coutinho”, IVAFEC-ES, CEP: 29.120-610, Vila Velha, ES, Bra-
zil (e-mail: alinevaladaresk@gmail.com).
PSAMMOPHILUS BLANFORDANUS (Blanford’s Rock Agama).
DIET. Psammophilus blanfordanus is a medium-sized endemic
Indian agamid lizard widely distributed in Eastern and Western
Ghats and Peninsular India (Smith 1935. The Fauna of British In-
dia including Ceylon and Burma. Taylor and Francis ltd, London.
440 pp). It occurs between 100 and 1200 m elev. in rocky areas
in tropical dry deciduous forests, tea plantations, secondary for-
ests, and evergreen forests (Srinivasulu et al. 2014. The Status and
Distribution of Reptiles in the Western Ghats, India. Conserva-
tion Assessment and Management Plan. Wildlife Information
Liaison Development Society, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. 148 pp.).
The diet of P. blanfordanus primarily consists of insects and ar-
thropods (Dutta et al 2009. Amphibians and Reptiles of Similipal
Biosphere Reserve. Regional Plant Resource Centre, Bhubanesh-
war. 174 pp.). Here we report an observation of a P. blandforda-
nus preying upon a skink (Eutropis spp.).
At 1000 h on 23 February, at Laboratory for the Conservation
of Endangered Species (LaCONES) campus area (17.3573°N,
78.4276°E, WGS 84; 531 m elev.), Hyderabad, India, we sighted
an adult male P. blanfordanus on a bare rock, holding on to a
Eutropis cf. macularia. The agamid held the skink by its lower
half for about 10–15 minutes, making no attempt to change the
hold. The skink put up a spirited fight, attempting to bite the
agama, autotomizing its tail in the process. The struggle lasted
for 40 minutes until the skink was completely swallowed by the
P. blanfordanus. The images are catalogued as ZRC(IMG) 2.286
a, ZRC(IMG) 2.286 b, and ZRC(IMG) 2.286 c in the photograph
collection of the Zoological Reference Collection, in the Lee Kong
Chian Natural History Museum, at the National University of
Singapore.
Skinks in the genus Mabuya (= Eutropis) have been
previously reported in the gut content of P. blanfordanus (Aruna
et. al 1993. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 90:295–296). The present
documentation is the first photographic record of skink in the
diet of P. blanfordanus. We thank Abhijit Das for suggestions on
this manuscript.
PREETI SHARMA, UNESCO C2C, Wildlife Institute of India, Chandra-
bani, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India (e-mail: preeti.sharma@wii.gov.in);
GAYATHRI SELVARAJ, Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered
Species (LaCONES), Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB),
PVNR Expressway, Attapur ring road, Hyderabad, India (e-mail: gayathri.
sy@gmail.com).
SCELOPORUS WOODI (Florida Scrub Lizard). NEST SITE. On
8 July 2015, while searching a Gopherus polyphemus (Gopher
Tortoise) burrow and its apron for tortoise eggs, we uncovered
three neonate Sceloporus woodi with three broken eggshells
(Highlands Co., Florida, USA; 27.1881°N, 81.3387°E; WGS 84).
The three neonates appeared to have just hatched but had not
yet dispersed from their nest chamber. Mean SVL and total
length were 22.1 mm (range 21.5–22.7 mm) and 53.5 mm (range
52.0–54.0 mm), respectively. This is the first documentation of S.
woodi using a G. polyphemus burrow apron as a nest site.
A study conducted in Arkansas found that although soil
moisture of G. polyphemus burrow aprons did not differ
significantly from randomly sampled points, burrow aprons
exhibited wider daily variation in surface soil temperatures
(range 18.7°–30.1°C; Kaczor and Hartnett 1990. Am. Midl. Nat.
123:100–111). The same researchers found that during prescribed
fires, burrow entrances and aprons experienced lower maximum
Fig. 1. A Psammophilus blanfordanus feeding on Eutropis cf macu-
laria.
