Long-tailed skinks on the nation’s outlying islet of Lanyu (蘭嶼) have been observed to eat their offspring — the mother lizards will eat their own eggs as a response to the frequent invasions of predatory snakes, Huang Wen-san (黃文山), an associate researcher at the National Museum of Natural Science reported on Friday.
Researchers studying the lizards suspect that the filial cannibalism is related to the mothers’ survival instincts, which direct them to strengthen themselves in defense against predators.
Huang — who has studied for more than a decade the behavior of the long-tailed skinks, or Mabuya longicaudata, and its enemy the Taiwan kukri snake, or Oligodon formosanus — first reported in 2006 the discovery of bizarre behavior among lizards on Lanyu. He documented that mother’s protected their eggs before they hatch, which is unusual among lizards.
PHOTO: SU MENG-CHUAN, TAIPEI
“Parental care is extremely rare among reptiles,” said Huang, adding that even the long tailed skink in Taiwan proper does not behave likewise. Female lizards always leave the clutch once they complete egg-laying.
During subsequent observation, Huang said he found an even more peculiar behavior among the lizards — the mother lizards would occasionally devour the whole clutch of her eggs.
Huang, who started his study of the two species after being “fascinated” years ago by the snake’s egg-foraging behavior, said he could not imagine at first why a species that tends to protect its offspring would engage in cannibalism.
Huang eventually concluded that filial cannibalism is similar to a “scorched earth policy.”
Mother lizards will fight back to protect their eggs against a snake’s intrusion, Huang reported. However, if the frequency of snake attacks exceeds a certain level, some mother lizards — especially pregnant ones — will sometimes consume all the eggs before they abandon the nest.
In a paper published on Aug. 27 in the journal Behavioral Ecology, Huang hypothesized that when the risk is too high to protect the eggs, the mothers try to save themselves by feeding on the eggs to strengthen themselves thus leaving no eggs for the snakes, so as to diminish their strength.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
MINOR DISRUPTION: The outage affected check-in and security screening, while passport control was done manually and runway operations continued unaffected The main departure hall and other parts of Terminal 2 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport lost power on Tuesday, causing confusion among passengers before electricity was fully restored more than an hour later. The outage, the cause of which is still being investigated, began at about midday and affected parts of Terminal 2, including the check-in gates, the security screening area and some duty-free shops. Parts of the terminal immediately activated backup power sources, while others remained dark until power was restored in some of the affected areas starting at 12:23pm. Power was fully restored at 1:13pm. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a
RSS