HOME-RANGE OVERLAP OF MOTHERS AND THEIR OFFSPRING IN THE SLEEPY LIZARD, TILIQUA-RUGOSA

This paper reports a field investigation of interactions between juven iles and their mothers in the Australian sleepy lizard, Tiliqua rugosa . In their first spring season, juvenile lizards maintain home ranges largely within the home range of their mother. Juvenile home ranges ar e significantly smaller than those of adult males and females, and juv eniles move significantly less often and significantly shorter distanc es than adults. While siblings were never found together in the spring , they showed a significant tendency to be closer to each other than i f they were randomly located in their home ranges. Juveniles and mothe rs were never found together, nor was there any evidence for any posit ive (or negative) spatial association. Nevertheless, the extended tole rance of home range overlap represents a greater degree of mother-offs pring association than has been previously reported for other lizards. Despite this, the level of parental care can only be described as min imal.