Prey capture behavior in the blue-tongued skink, Tiliqua scincoides

Squamate prey capture evolved in two general directions; one toward an emph asis upon lingual prehension and the other toward an emphasis upon jaw preh ension. In basal squamates (Iguania), lingual prehension characterizes prey capture All other squamates (Scleroglossa) tend to use their jaws for prey prehension and the role of the tongue as a prehensile organ is reduced. Ho wever, within some scleroglossan lizards, lingual and jaw modes of prehensi on are present Selection of a distinct prehension mode during a feeding bou t in these lizards has been hypothesized to be related to prey size. To tes t for the presence of lingual prehension and correlation with prey size, we examined feeding behavior in the blue-tongued skink, Tiliqua scincoides us ing two prey types (mealworm and cricket). We confirmed that this skink use s both lingual and jaw modes of prehension with accompanying characteristic jaw kinematic profiles. With crickets, only jaw prehension was exhibited, but both modes were used when feeding on equivalently sized prey, mealworms . Consequently, prehension mode is not exclusively elicited by prey size. W e,therefore, hypothesize that selection of prehension modes, lingual or jaw s, in these basal scleroglossans also includes proximate factors related to prey behavior.