Eliezer Frankenberg

Vocalization of Males of Three Geographical Forms of Ptyodactylus from Israel (Reptilia: Sauria: Gekkoninae)

ABSTRACT-Calls of 3 forms of Ptyodactylus were recorded and analyzed. Each call was a series of clicks, similar in frequency. Calls of a male to a female differed in the 3 forms. P. hasselquistii guttatus had 5-8 clicks in the call, each of nearly 0.25 sec with equal intervals and dominant frequency ranges of 1300-2150 and 3000-5600 Hz. P.h. puiseuxi had fewer clicks in the call with dominant frequency ranges of 2400-2800 and 4800-6000 Hz, preceded by some weaker and shorter clicks of 0.14 sec with dominant frequency ranges of 2575-2900 and 5175-5650 Hz. P.h. cf. hasselquistii had a mixture of long and short clicks in its call with dominant frequency ranges of 1325-2575 and 3900-5625 Hz. Male to male calls of P.h. guttatus differed from male to female calls and had more clicks and longer intervals. Calls of P.h. puiseuxi recorded at various temperatures showed no difference in frequency or call structure but click structure changed.

Interspecific and Seasonal Variation of Daily Activity Times in Gekkonid Lizards (Reptilia, Lacertilia)

Daily activity of Alsophylax blanfordii, Cyrtodactylus kotschyi, Gehyra variegata, Hemidactylus turcicus, Pachydactylus laevigatus, Ptyodactylus hasselquistii guttatus, P.h. cf. hasselquistii, P.h. puiseuxi, P.h. ssp. (from Upper Volta), Stenodactylus sthenodactylus and Tarentola mauritanica was recorded by actographs during the four annual seasons, and of Ceramodactylus doriae, Cyrtodactylus amictopholis and Stenodactylus petrii during one season only. Room temperature was 30 C during the day and not less than 18C at night. Light was put on according to the corresponding sunrise and sunset times. All individuals had been acclimated together in the vivarium for at least 6 months before experimentation. Animals were three days in the actograph without food or water. The degree of nocturnality and the distribution of activity along day and night were measured. Israeli geckos distributed in arid regions are more nocturnal than those living in more humid areas or those distributed throughout Israel and Sinai. One taxon was diurnal, seven diurno-nocturnal and six nocturnal animals. Taxa all showed ecological segregation when compared with respect to one or more of the following parameters: size, habitat topography, climate and daily activity time. In winter activity of all taxa but one was more diurnal than in summer; P.h. ssp. was nocturnal all year round. There are several patterns in changing of daily activity distribution with seasons, and this helps to separate between taxa and specify their activity times. * * *

The Defensive Vocal "Distress" Repertoire of Gekkonid Lizards: Intra- and Inter-Specific Variation

Vocalizations emitted in a uniform distress situation were recorded from adult, similarly sized, gekkonine lizards Bunopus blanfordii, Cyrtodactylus kotschyi orientalis, Gehyra variegata and Stenodactylus s. sthenodactylus. The 269 calls obtained from the 24 individuals used, analysed sonagraphically, segregated into four distinct call types recurring in each species. Ten independently varying factors combine to make this repertoire extremely variable. This variation is independent of the acoustic environment. Because the vocal response to an attacking predator is so unpredictable, and because the acoustic frequency range transcends the hearing range of the geckos themselves, the calls are believed to have a deimatic, anti-predator, function.

Head triangulation in two colubrine snakes: probable behavioural reinforcement of batesian mimicry

ABSTRACT Two Israeli aglyphous colubrid snakes seem to mimic venomous viperid snakes. Spalerosophis diadema cliffordi resembles sympatric desert viperids, especially Vipera persica fieldi, in girth, coloration and defensive behaviour. Coluber ravergieri nummifer resembles the sympatric Vipera palaestinae in length, coloration and defensive behaviour. Direct evidence of functional mimicry is absent, except that man is frequently misled. Because several conventional conditions are fulfilled, these appear to be two cases of Batesian mimicry. Any of five hypotheses may enable the evolution of such mimicry systems in which the model may be lethal. Some individuals of both mimic species greatly increase the morphological resemblance to the models by behaviourally flattening and triangulating the head in the defensive display. This behaviour is distinct from that of flattening the head as part of a general flattening of the body, to increase the area shown an enemy or in basking. Parallely, cobras are mimicked b...

WILL THE BIOGEOGRAPHICAL BRIDGE CONTINUE TO EXIST

ABSTRACT Israel is a meeting point between three continents, two seas, and several climatic regions. The central part is a transition area where peripheral populations from the north, south, and east meet. Five different ecological bridges—the sea, the air, the coastal plain, and the mountain ridge, as well as the Arava and Jordan Valleys—cross this meeting point from north to south. Development of housing, tourism, road construction, afforestation, industry, and agriculture, and further development programs threaten the existence of the land bridges. In consequence, the special biogeographical position of Israel as a meeting point and the associated high biodiversity may be seriously damaged. Efforts to protect Israels biodiversity are discussed, along with the actual prospects to preserve it.

DISTRESS CALLS OF GEKKONID LIZARDS FROM ISRAEL AND SINAI

ABSTRACT A seized gecko, of either sex, often produces a distress call. Distress calls of Cyrtodactylus scaber, Hemidactylus turcicus, Ptyodactylus hasselquistii guttatus, P. h. puiseuxi, Stenodactylus sthenodactylus and Tropiocolotes steudneri were recorded and analyzed. Their description is presented as sonagrams and oscillograms. Each distress call of each species has a wide frequency range with one or several main frequencies and a very variable duration. Sound frequency correlates with specific body size and with the body size of the sexes. Species with similar body size have the same main frequencies. The sex with the larger body size possesses the lower sound frequency in any given speices. The frequencies of the smallest animals are higher and have a wider range than those of the bigger ones. Distress calls might function against predators or other individuals of the same species, or as a general intraspecific warning signal of a coming danger. The later purpose could be attained even if the call ...

Interactions Between Two Species of Colonizing House Geckos, Hemidactylus turcicus and Hemidactylus garnotii

The Mediterranean and Indo Pacific house geckos are sympatric in southern Florida, have similar size, diet and activity patterns, but have different social behavior. During laboratory observations, the parthenogenetic H. garnotii and the bisexual H. turcicus had different perch preferences, site specificity and degrees of association to other individuals. In spite of H. garnotii being more successful than H. turcicus in interspecific fights, the distribution of the former in experimental cages was more influenced than that of H. turcicus in heterospecific situations, com- pared to homospecific ones. Hemidactylus turcicus and H. garnotii have recently colonized southern Flor- ida. H. turcicus which is originally from the Middle East, is known from the Florida Keys since 1915, whereas H. gar- notti is Indo Pacific in origin and was introduced to Florida some 30 years ago (King and Krakauer, 1966). H. garnotii is an all female, triploid, parthenogenetic gecko (Kluge and Eckardt, 1969), whereas H. turcicus is bisexual. Interac- tions between individuals in sympatric populations of these two house geckos has not been studied, and only foraging activity times and reproductive cycles of H. turcicus from the U.S.A. were stud- ied in nature (King, 1958; Rose and Bar- bour, 1968). Laboratory investigations (Frankenberg, 1982a, b) showed marked differences in social behavior between

Pupillary response to light in gekkonid lizards having various times of daily activity

Abstract Pupillary response to various light intensities, ranging from 0.01 to 280 lux, was studied on 12 taxa of geckos. There was a high linear correlation in each taxon between pupil area and log light intensity. No relation could be found between the degree of nocturnality and the slope of the taxon-specific pupillary reaction function. Instead, a high correlation between the reaction slope of every individual animal and its spectacle area, which reflects the geckos ecological type, was found. The range of light intensities in which pupils showed maximal sensitivity was in accordance with the geckos mode of life.

FURTHER OBSERVATIONS ON THE DISTINCTIVE VOCAL REPERTOIRE OF PTYODACTYLUS HASSELQUISTII CF. HASSEL QUISTII (REPTILIA: GEKKONINAE)

ABSTRACT Vocalizations of Ptyodactylus hasselquistii cf. hasselquistii from Sinai were analysed spectrographically and compared to those of its geographical neighbour, P. h. guttatus, and of other lizards. The multiple click calls (MC) of these and some other gekkonid lizards have certain basic features in common but vary specifically in details; those of P. h. cf. hasselquistii are outstandingly complex and melodious and show individual variation. The taxon may thus merit species status. The clicky “distress” calls (sensu lato) in this taxon differ from MC call clicks. The squeaky “distress” calls, unlike the preceding call types and like those of other lizards, mainly contain energy above the good hearing range of the geckos themselves.