Ambush or attack: do male and female Platysaurus rhodesianus (Cordylidae) differ in their foraging strategies?

Female Platysaurus rhodesianus are brown and vertically striped, while males are brightly coloured. Though Platysaurus are generally considered ambush foragers, P. broadleyi exhibit plastic foraging behaviour. Further, vertical stripes are generally indicative of active foraging, suggesting that female P. rhodesianus might be active foragers. We investigate whether male and female P. rhodesianus differ in foraging strategy, using a focal animal analysis to measure both the proportion of time spent moving (PTM) and the proportion of attacks made while moving (PAM). No significant difference was found between the proportions of time that males and females spent moving. When compared with the traditional critical value of PTM that distinguishes active foragers from ambush foragers, both males and females were found to be active foragers.