Kentropyx lagartija (NCN): diet

Abstract

Diet of a few species of Kentropyx has been studied. Kentropyx striatus (Vitt and de Carvalho 1992. Can. J. Zool. 70: 1995-2006), K. pelviceps and K. altamazonica (Vitt et al. 2000. Oecologia. 122:410-420) have all been reported to be insectivorous, but the diet of K. lagartija is unstudied. Hence, here we report an observation of predation by a young K. lagartija on a Mabuya (skink). On 17th December 2002, we collected a young male of K. lagartija (4.5 cm SVL) in the Parque Nacional Copo, 3.7 km SE of Puesto Maján (25º51´43.0´´S, 62º11´10.1´´W, datum: WGS84; elev. 160 m) Santiago del Estero, Argentina. It was found in an open grassy area inside the Chaco forest. Dissection of this animal revealed a Mabuya frenata neonate (2.6 cm SVL) in the stomach. The K. lagartija (MCN 1201) and the M. frenata neonate (MCN 1202) were deposited in the herpetological collection of the Museo de Ciencias Naturales of the Universidad Nacional de Salta (MCN).