Studies On The Diel Activity Rhythm, Diet, Home Range, Microhabitat Selection And Foraging Mode Of Teratoscincus Roborowskii

Teratoscincus roborowskii(Gekkonidae)only distributes in Toksun-Shanshan-Turpan Depression, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. It is endemic to this area. The ecological features such as diel activity rhythm, diet, home range, microhabitat selection and foraging mode of T. roborowskii are examined. The results are as the following: 1. Teratoscincus roborowskii is a nocturnal species. In all activity period it always has a unimodal activity pattern. Its activity rhythm seasonally varies. Wind that can raise sand puts off the starting time of Teratoscincus roborowskii being active, but rain can not. In rainy weather the duration of activity peak of Teratoscincus roborowskii is longer. There is a significant difference between adult and juvenile activity ryhthm. The duration of activity peak and intensity of adult are smaller than juvenile. 2. The diet of Teratoscincus roborowskii is examined here by analysis of remnant. In April and May, T. roborowskii is insectivorous. But from June to September T. roborowskii is omniorous, prefers arthropod and the fruits of Nitraria spp. The overlap of food niche was higher between adults and juveniles and the food niche breadth of adults was wider. 3. In June and September different groups of T. roborowskii are different in size of home range: the male adult >the female adult >the juvenile. Although different of them are not statistically significant. There is an exception that the size of the male adult is markedly bigger than the juvenile in September(U=-4.000; P=0.009). In June there is a marked positive correlation in the size of home range between the male adult and the juvenile. The overlap is seldom between the male adults, even it is not in September. 4. Teratoscincus roborowskii construct its burrows in sandy soil with its depth≥30cm. A majority of the burrows occur in the distance from 0-20m to the nearest individual plant. 5. Teratoscincus roborowskii is a lizard utilizing sit-and-wait foraging mode strategy. On the basis of the value of MPM and PTM, difference between the adult and the juvenile in foraging model is significant. The juvenile is more active than the adult(MPM: H=6.914, df=1, P=0.009; H=25.898, df=1, P=0.000).