TY - JOUR
T1 - Niche partitioning among three snail-eating snakes revealed by dentition asymmetry and prey specialisation
AU - Chang, Kai Xiang
AU - Huang, Bing Hong
AU - Luo, Min Xin
AU - Huang, Chih Wei
AU - Wu, Shu Ping
AU - Nguyen, Hung Ngoc
AU - Lin, Si Min
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 British Ecological Society
PY - 2021/4
Y1 - 2021/4
N2 - The level of dentition asymmetry in snail-eating snakes may reflect their prey choice and feeding efficiency on asymmetric land snails. The three species of Pareas snakes (Squamata: Pareidae) in Taiwan, which form partially sympatric distribution on the island, provide a potential case to test the hypothesis of niche partitioning and character displacement with regard to dentition asymmetry and specialisation in feeding behaviour. In this study, behavioural experiments confirmed that P. formosensis feeds exclusively on slugs, whereas P. atayal and P. komaii consumed both. However, P. atayal more efficiently preys on land snails than P. komaii, exhibiting a shorter handling time and fewer mandibular retractions. Micro-CT and ancestral character reconstruction demonstrated the lowest asymmetry in P. formosensis (the slug specialist), the highest dentition asymmetry in P. atayal (the land snail specialist) and flexibility in P. komaii (the niche switcher): increased dentition asymmetry when sympatrically distributed with the slug eater (character displacement), and decreased asymmetry when living alone (ecological niche release). Ecological niche modelling showed that the distribution of P. formosensis is associated with the presence of slugs, while that of P. atayal could be explained by the land snails. Combining the results from morphology, phylogeny, behavioural experiments and ecological niche modelling, we showed that competition in the sympatric region might have facilitated character displacement among congeners, while the absence of competition in allopatric region has led to ecological niche release.
AB - The level of dentition asymmetry in snail-eating snakes may reflect their prey choice and feeding efficiency on asymmetric land snails. The three species of Pareas snakes (Squamata: Pareidae) in Taiwan, which form partially sympatric distribution on the island, provide a potential case to test the hypothesis of niche partitioning and character displacement with regard to dentition asymmetry and specialisation in feeding behaviour. In this study, behavioural experiments confirmed that P. formosensis feeds exclusively on slugs, whereas P. atayal and P. komaii consumed both. However, P. atayal more efficiently preys on land snails than P. komaii, exhibiting a shorter handling time and fewer mandibular retractions. Micro-CT and ancestral character reconstruction demonstrated the lowest asymmetry in P. formosensis (the slug specialist), the highest dentition asymmetry in P. atayal (the land snail specialist) and flexibility in P. komaii (the niche switcher): increased dentition asymmetry when sympatrically distributed with the slug eater (character displacement), and decreased asymmetry when living alone (ecological niche release). Ecological niche modelling showed that the distribution of P. formosensis is associated with the presence of slugs, while that of P. atayal could be explained by the land snails. Combining the results from morphology, phylogeny, behavioural experiments and ecological niche modelling, we showed that competition in the sympatric region might have facilitated character displacement among congeners, while the absence of competition in allopatric region has led to ecological niche release.
KW - ancestral character reconstruction
KW - asymmetry index
KW - character displacement
KW - ecological niche modelling
KW - feeding efficiency
KW - micro-CT
KW - prey preference
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U2 - 10.1111/1365-2656.13426
DO - 10.1111/1365-2656.13426
M3 - Article
C2 - 33481265
AN - SCOPUS:85100569351
SN - 0021-8790
VL - 90
SP - 967
EP - 977
JO - Journal of Animal Ecology
JF - Journal of Animal Ecology
IS - 4
ER -