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.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS