Petals in the diet of savanna lizards.

We recorded Chamaecrista petals from the stomachs of three lizards of two species (Cnemidophorus lemniscatus, Ameiva ameiva) in an Amazonian savanna. The petals completely filled the stomachs of the lizards, so they were not ingested incidentally. The lizards were encountered incidentally as they were killed by ants in mammal traps or found on the road. During the study period, we encountered only one other individual in similar conditions without petals, so most of the lizards in the area are probably ingesting petals. Nutritional analyses indicate that the petals are rich in water and carbohydrates and standard analyses indicate that they are not toxic. Although we cannot discount that the lizards ate the petals to obtain water, heavy rainfall during the period indicates that the petals were not ingested for water balance, so we believe that the petals are an important and overlooked source of nutrition for the savanna lizards.