Efeitos da urbanização na personalidade animal: um experimento controlado em calangos Tropidurus hispidus

Abstract

Anthropogenic changes are occurring globally and have significant effects on wildlife. Studies have sought to understand the extent to which urbanization causes changes in the ecology of different species. Such studies have shown that urban animals can change their behavior to adapt to these new conditions. Individuals of the same species differ in behavior between urban and rural habitats. Although studies on urbanization have become common in literature in Brazil, there is a paucity of studies with empirical evidence of the underlying mechanisms responsible for the relationships between urbanization and the structure of the animal community. In view of this, this dissertation had as objective to test if the urbanization influences the behavior of tropical lizard Tropidurus hispidus, within the animal personality. We captured male lizards from rural and urban habitats on the Island of Maranhão-MA. We kept the lizards in individual terrariums and, after a period of acclimatization, we performed three tests to evaluate the behavior of tonic immobility, distance of initiation of escape and aggressiveness. Each test was repeated three times to measure intra-individual consistency in behavior. We found evidence that T.hispidus presents personality traits involving tonic immobility, distance of initiation of escape and aggressiveness. These behaviors did not appear to differ between rural and urban individuals, but urban individuals tended to have more flexible behaviors while rural individuals had more consistent behaviors. Our results are the first evidence of animal personality in T. hispidus and suggest that this species may be more flexible in urban populations.