Caudal autotomy, the voluntary shedding of a tail, is a last-ditch strategy used by many lizard species to escape from predators. There are several costs associated with caudal autotomy that may cause lizards to change their behaviour during tail regeneration. These behavioural changes may be dependent upon individual differences in response to autotomy (e.g. trait or state-dependent differences) and/or the degree of tail loss, as many lizards have the capacity to only partially shed their tail which probably entails fewer costs relative to complete autotomy. However, no study, to our knowledge, has considered how caudal autotomy, or the extent of autotomy, affects individual behavioural variation. Accordingly, we investigated the effects of both partial and complete tail loss on individual behavioural variation in delicate skinks, Lampropholis delicata. We found that lizards that experienced complete tail loss, on average, became less active and explorative and had much slower sprint speeds following autotomy. These lizards also became more predictable and consistent in their behaviour, exhibiting a notable decrease in their within-individual behavioural variance. In contrast, we did not see any significant behavioural effects in lizards that experienced partial tail loss. We also found a positive among-individual correlation between activity/exploration and neophilia, but tail loss had no effect on the structure of this syndrome. Our results suggest that complete tail loss may impose effects on traits more closely associated with locomotion and predator escape ability, while also constraining an individual's capacity for differential behavioural expression.

中文翻译：

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尾部自体切除术对人格的影响

尾部自体切除术，即尾巴的自愿脱落，是许多蜥蜴物种用来逃避捕食者的最后一搏策略。尾部自体切除术可能会导致蜥蜴在尾部再生过程中改变其行为，这会产生一些相关的成本。这些行为变化可能取决于个体对自体切割反应的差异（例如性状或状态相关的差异）和/或尾巴丢失的程度，因为许多蜥蜴有能力仅部分脱落尾巴，这可能需要较少的成本。完全自切。然而，据我们所知，还没有研究考虑过尾部自切或自切的程度如何影响个体行为变异。因此，我们研究了部分和完全尾部丢失对脆弱石龙子个体行为变化的影响，Lampropholis delicata。我们发现，经历过完全断尾的蜥蜴，平均而言，变得不那么活跃和探索性，并且在自切后的冲刺速度要慢得多。这些蜥蜴的行为也变得更加可预测和一致，它们的个体行为差异显着减少。相比之下，我们在经历部分尾巴丢失的蜥蜴中没有看到任何显着的行为影响。我们还发现活动/探索与新恋者之间存在个体间正相关关系，但尾部丢失对该综合征的结构没有影响。我们的研究结果表明，完全失去尾巴可能会对与运动和捕食者逃逸能力更密切相关的特征产生影响，同时也会限制个体差异行为表达的能力。我们发现，经历过完全断尾的蜥蜴，平均而言，变得不那么活跃和探索性，并且在自切后的冲刺速度要慢得多。这些蜥蜴的行为也变得更加可预测和一致，它们的个体行为差异显着减少。相比之下，我们在经历部分尾巴丢失的蜥蜴中没有看到任何显着的行为影响。我们还发现活动/探索与新恋者之间存在个体间正相关关系，但尾部丢失对该综合征的结构没有影响。我们的研究结果表明，完全失去尾巴可能会对与运动和捕食者逃逸能力更密切相关的特征产生影响，同时也会限制个体差异行为表达的能力。我们发现，经历过完全断尾的蜥蜴，平均而言，变得不那么活跃和探索性，并且在自切后的冲刺速度要慢得多。这些蜥蜴的行为也变得更加可预测和一致，它们的个体行为差异显着减少。相比之下，我们在经历部分尾巴丢失的蜥蜴中没有看到任何显着的行为影响。我们还发现活动/探索与新恋者之间存在个体间正相关关系，但尾部丢失对该综合征的结构没有影响。我们的研究结果表明，完全失去尾巴可能会对与运动和捕食者逃逸能力更密切相关的特征产生影响，同时也会限制个体差异行为表达的能力。