Stomach content analyses of lizard species from Mindanao island, Philippines

Abstract

The Philippines is home to 209 lizard species (Uetz et al. 2021), of which 74% are endemic (Brown et al. 2013a). Knowledge of lizard species in the country has been focused mainlyon species accounts in various localities from Luzon (Diesmos et al. 2004, Devan-Song and Brown 2012, Siler et al. 2012, Brown et al. 2013b, Binaday et al. 2017, Cruz et al. 2018); Visayas (Denzer et al. 1994, Ferner et al. 2000, Bucol et al. 2011, Supsup et al. 2016, Obeña et al. 2021); and Mindanao (Delima et al. 2007, Nuñeza et al. 2010, Beukema 2011, Supsup et al. 2017, Venturina et al. 2020, Pitogo et al. 2021, Solania et al. 2021). Data on the diet of lizards from the country remain limited (Villadolid 1934, Reyes 1957, Auffenberg and Auffenberg 1988, Struck et al. 2002, Bucol et al. 2011, Law et al. 2018, Tabug et al. 2018). Information on diets from earlier reports used field observations (Bucol et al. 2011, Bennett 2014), claw material subjected to isotope analysis (Struck et al. 2002), individual tracing, and fecal sample examination (Law et al. 2018), in addition to inspection of stomach contents from captured wild specimens prior to preservation (Tabug et al. 2018) and stomach content analysis of preserved specimens (Villadolid 1934, Auffenberg and Auffenberg 1988).