GEneral ecology, characteristics of burrow, daily activity,relationship between the body weight and/or the measure morphometric
parameters,population dispersion, food habit by fecal analysis and the relationship between the air temperature
and the body temperature of yae, Leiolepis belliana rubritaeniata (Mertans) were investigated. It was found that
individual lizard tended to occupy a single burrow in open areas. Each burrow had a single daily entry opening and
another concealed emergency exit. The dimension of the daily entry, opening seemed
to depend on the lizard body size, the range of the entry opening was from 1 cm to 3.5 cm. An average depth of
the burrow was about 100 cm. On sunny days, emergence of lizards from their burrow was observed to occur
about 2 to 3 hours after sunrise. Above ground activity seemed to be bimodel occuring once between
emergent time to about 1 pm and again between 3 pm to 5.30 pm. The body weight and the body size of male
lizards were recorded higher than that of the females but the male to female sex ratio found about 1 : 1.5.
There were correlations among the body weight, the total length, the tail length, the snout-to-vent length,
the head length, the arm length and the leg length. The distribution of individual members of the lizards population
in a limit area was found to be contagious. It was also found that L. b. rubritaeniata was omnivorous feeding mainly
on insects in 8 orders. There was a correlation between the air temperature and the body temperature of this
agamid lizard.
|