• DOI:10.1006/anbe.1997.0705
Corpus ID: 31777817

Heat, safety or solitude? Using habitat selection experiments to identify a lizard's priorities

@article{Downes1998HeatSO,
  title={Heat, safety or solitude? Using habitat selection experiments to identify a lizard's priorities},
  author={S. Downes and R. Shine},
  journal={Animal Behaviour},
  year={1998},
  volume={55},
  pages={1387-1396}
}

• S. Downes, R. Shine
• Published 1998
• Medicine, Biology
• Animal Behaviour

Laboratory experiments with a rock-dwelling nocturnal gecko, Oedura lesueurii, showed that retreat-site selection (and other behaviours) are affected by the interplay between thermal benefits, social advantages and avoidance of predators. Velvet geckos were highly selective in habitat choice: they preferred artificial retreat-sites that mimic the thermal properties of natural rocks in full sun rather than those that mimic rocks in full shade; mature male geckos rarely shared retreat-sites with… Expand