Diet and foraging in the Curaçao Whiptail, Cnemidophorus murinus (Laurenti, 1768)

Abstract

The Curaçao Whiptail (Cnemidophorus murinus) (Squamata: Teiidae) was once considered to have two subspecies, C. m. murinus (endemic to Curaçao and Klein-Curaçao) and C. m. ruthveni (endemic to Bonaire and Klein-Bonaire), but the two are now considered separate species (Ugueto and Harvey 2010). Little has been published on the natural history of C. murinus. Most of the literature on the natural history of “C. murinus” actually pertains to C. ruthveni and includes studies on diet (Dearing and Schall 1992, Schall 1996), body temperature (Schall and Dearing 1994), metabolic expenditure (Bennett and Gleeson 1979), population density and energetics (Bennett and Gorman 1979), signaling behavior (Cooper et al. 2004), escape behavior (Cooper et al. 2003), and learning (Schall 2000). In contrast, published literature on C. murinus that deals with topics other than its taxonomy, morphology, and distribution is limited to a few notes on its parasites (Specian and Whittaker 1980), pathology (Hughes and Delis 2014), clutch size (van Buurt 2011), conservation (van Buurt 2006), and interactions with tourists (van Buurt 2011). Herein I add to the published knowledge of C. murinus with observations on diet and foraging.