Can agonistic interactions modulate physiological responses related to anti-predatory strategies in a neotropical lizard species?

• Grant number: 23/02024-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: August 01, 2023
• End date: July 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Physiology of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Fernando Ribeiro Gomes
• Grantee: Stefânia Pereira Ventura dos Reis
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Anti-predatory behaviors are behaviors present in basically every species of animal on the planet. One of the most common anti-predatory strategies is predator escape. However, deciding the best time to escape from the predator is not a simple decision for the prey. However, when the prey decides to escape from the predator, it does not only involve the benefit of not being preyed, but also costs associated with escape, such as energy costs, reduced time available for foraging and loss of reproductive opportunities. One of the main factors that can influence the costs associated with flight is social interactions. Such costs can be particularly significant in males of territorial species. In these species, males who receive clues that they may suffer greater social costs when fleeing, such as loss of mating territories, tend to be more resistant to fleeing than males that do not receive such clues. A common situation occurs when males that have participated in agonistic interactions with a conspecific take longer to escape of the predator. However, the mechanism that explains how agonistic interactions affect anti-predatory behavior is unknown. It is known that agonistic interactions can induce the production of glucocorticoids, such as corticosterone. Corticosterone is the main glucocorticoid released by reptiles. One of the potential effects of increasing corticosterone in the body would be to increase the individual's aggressiveness and, consequently, increase their propensity to fight. With this greater propensity to fight, individuals may also increase the propensity to take predatory risks, that is, not to escape as soon as a predator is detected. Therefore, in this proposal our objective is to clarify whether corticosterone can mediate the relationship between agonistic interactions and anti-predatory behavior. Our results may help to better understand the importance of evaluating physiological factors as mediators of decision rules in behaviors of extreme importance in individual fitness. (AU)