Fear of the new? Geckos hesitate to attack novel prey, feed near objects and enter a novel space

Abstract

Neophobia, the fear of novelty, is an ecologically important response which enables animals to avoid potentially harmful situations. Low levels of neophobia have been linked to elevated dispersal/ migration, invasiveness and living in human modified landscapes albeit only in birds and mammals. In this study, we assessed neophobia in captive Tokay geckos (Gekko gecko). We expected to find low neophobia in our geckos because they are invasive and adopt well to anthropogenic environments. This species is, however, also both predator and prey in the wild which might select for higher neophobia. We tested neophobia in three contexts: attacking novel prey, foraging near novel objects and entering a novel space. We aimed to quantify (1) neophobia in these contexts, (2) individual consistency across trials using different novel stimuli, and (3) correlation of individual responses across the three contexts. We found that geckos hesitate to attack novel prey and prey close to objects (familiar and novel). Geckos hesitated the most when entering novel space and repeatability of behaviour across contexts was low (R = 0.12) indicating that neophobia might not be a single trait. The strength of a neophobic response can indicate how anxious or curious an individual is. This test has great potential to help answer questions about how captivity, enrichment, rearing environment and cognition affect fear responses in different contexts in lizards. By studying reptiles, we can better understand the universality of what is known about the causes leading to difference in neophobia across individuals and species.