Bulletin n°180

We here report the observation of a complete sequence of cannibalism by an adult male on a juvenile of the lacertid Podarcis muralis in the field in Haute-Savoie, a French department. That observation was not based on stomach contents as is often the case but was a visual observation which
took place during most of the process from active prey capture to full prey ingestion during a time lapse of about 5 minutes. We here describe that observation and discuss its relevance for cannibalism occurrence in that species. A five minutes movie was made. Citizen science allowed that observation to be made widely available, and its potential as a new tool in natural history is highlighted.

Auteurs : Ivan INEICH, Robert CHENEVIER, Paulette CHENEVIER et Monique MAGNOULOUX