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| Natchev, N.; Tzankov, N.; Vergilov, V.; Kummer, S.; Handschuh, S.. |
| The snake-eyed skink Ablepharus kitaibelii is one of the smallest European lizards, but despite its minute size it is able to feed on comparatively large prey. Here we investigate the diet of A. kitaibelii and the mechanisms that allow the skink to overpower relatively large and even noxious prey. High-speed cinematography showed that A. kitaibelii uses a series of shaking and battering movements to immobilise and kill prey prior to swallowing. During this process, the skinks rises up on the hind limbs and then whacks the prey sidewise on the substrate by twisting the trunk, neck and head laterally. Our analysis showed that the shaking kinematics is very uniform among the investigated specimens. The morphological investigation of the cranio-cervical system... |
| Tipo: Article / Letter to the editor |
Palavras-chave: Evolution; Feeding; Neck; Odontoid; Parallel; Skink; ΜCT; 42.82. |
| Ano: 2015 |
URL: http://www.repository.naturalis.nl/record/515947 |
