Saurophagy in Brazilian lizards with new records in the Brazilian semiarid region

Authors

  • Maria Regilane Belo da Silva Universidade Federal do Cariri, Brejo Santo, Ceará, Brasil
  • Cicero Ricardo Oliveira Universidade Federal do Cariri, Brejo Santo, Ceará, Brasil
  • Daniel Oliveira Mesquita Universidade Federal da Paraíba, João Pessoa, Brasil
  • Samuel Cardozo Ribeiro Universidade Federal do Cariri, Brejo Santo, Ceará, Brasil

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17161/randa.v33i1.23148

Keywords:

predators, cannibalism, lizards, Caatinga

Abstract

Predation is one of the principal pressures affecting natural populations. Saurophagy is an opportunistic
behavior that can affect natural populations, especially juveniles. We observed predation events in the Chapada do
Araripe and herein present a review of the literature on saurophagy in Brazilian lizards. Despite the large number of
lizards collected, only 0.8% showed some form of saurophagy, with Micrablepharus maximiliani being the most frequent
prey. In Brazil, lizards in ten families are known to engage in saurophagy, with teiids and tropidurids being the
frequently documented predators.

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Published

2026-09-14

Issue

Vol. 33 No. 1 (2026): Reptiles & Amphibians

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Maria Regilane Belo da Silva, Cicero Ricardo Oliveira, Daniel Oliveira Mesquita, Samuel Cardozo Ribeiro

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Copyright is held by the authors. Articles in R&A are made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license.

How to Cite

Belo da Silva, M. R. ., Oliveira, C. R., Oliveira Mesquita, D. ., & Cardozo Ribeiro, S. (2026). Saurophagy in Brazilian lizards with new records in the Brazilian semiarid region. Reptiles & Amphibians, 33(1), e23148. https://doi.org/10.17161/randa.v33i1.23148