DOI: 10.5061/dryad.08kprr5gv
title: Data from: Quantity discrimination, decision-making, and the role of early-life conditions in a lizard

description: Quantity discrimination affects a range of behaviours essential for
 fitness, including social interactions, navigation, and foraging, and is
 widespread across animal taxa. However, in reptiles, evidence for this
 ability—particularly for small number contrasts—remains limited and mixed.
 Early-life conditions, such as hormonal exposure and temperature, can also
 shape brain development and cognitive performance, potentially affecting
 numerical abilities. Here, we tested the ability of the common garden
 skink (Lampropholis guichenoti) to discriminate between quantities and the
 effects of elevated prenatal GCs and incubation temperature on quantity
 discrimination and decision-making. We assessed quantity discrimination
 using a spontaneous choice test with food as a stimulus. We subjected
 lizards to five two-choice tests differing in the number of items (1 VS 4,
 1 VS 3, 2 VS 4, 2 VS 3, 3 VS 4) while controlling for total length and
 area. Contrary to our predictions, we found no evidence of quantity
 discrimination in L. guichenoti. Furthermore, prenatal conditions did not
 influence their performance or decision-making. Despite these results,
 further investigation of quantity discrimination in live-prey-feeding
 reptiles and the impact of early conditions on other taxa remains an
 important area of research.
description: # Data from: Quantity discrimination, decision-making, and the role of
 early-life conditions in a lizard Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.08kprr5gv](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.08kprr5gv) ##
 Description of the data and file structure Three data files are included
 in this repository. lizard_database_number shows the main data employed in
 the study. The time is given from a few seconds to minutes.
 measures_crickets and orientation_test provide data on extra experiments
 we performed, and which results are reported in the supplementary material
 of the manuscript. ### Files and variables #### File:
 lizard_database_number.csv **Description:**  ##### Variables * position:
 position of the enclosures within each rack * lizard_id: identity of the
 lizard * trt: treatment applied to the egg. A is for control eggs and B
 for CORT-treated. Numbers indicate the incubation temperature * sex: sex
 of the lizard (female/male) * current_enclosure: number of the individual
 enclosure the lizard was held in * clutch: clutch identity * hatch_date:
 date when lizard hatched * test_date: date when the test was performed *
 age: age of the lizard in days when the behavioural experiment started *
 notes: extra notes * day: day when the test was performed (1-5) *
 test_type: numerical test * pos_high_lat: position where the dish with the
 larger number of crickets was left in relation to the position of the
 shelter * pos_high_risk: position where the dish with the larger number of
 crickets was left in relation to the position of the researcher leaving
 the crickets * choice: choice made (1 = larger choice) * lat_high: time
 between the start of the experiment and the approach to the dish with the
 larger number of crickets * lat_low: time between the start of the
 experiment and the approach to the dish with the smaller number of
 crickets * latency: latency to make a choice (i.e., the lowest between
 lat_high and lat_low) * time_high: time spent exploring the dish with the
 larger number of crickets * time_low: time spent exploring the dish with
 the smaller number of crickets * compared_interest: time_high - time_low *
 ratio_interest: (time_high - time_low) / (time_high + time_low) *
 side_choice: side chosen relatively to the position of the shelter ####
 File: measures_crickets.csv **Description:**  ##### Variables * rack: rack
 number * camera: camera number  * day: day when the test was performed
 (1-5) * lizard_id: lizard identity * test: numerical test * measure_small:
 total length of the crickets in the option with fewer crickets *
 measure_big: total length of the crickets in the option with more crickets
 * diff_measure: measure_big - measure_small #### File:
 orientation_test.csv **Description:**  ##### Variables * position:
 position of the enclosures within each rack * lizard_id: identity of the
 lizard * trt: treatment applied to the egg. A is for control eggs and B
 for CORT-treated. Numbers indicate the incubation temperature * sex: sex
 of the lizard (female/male) * current_enclosure: number of the individual
 enclosure the lizard was held in * clutch: clutch identity * hatch_date:
 date when lizard hatched * test_date: date when the test was performed *
 age: age of the lizard when the behavioural experiment started * notes:
 extra notes * day: day when the test was performed (1-5) * test_type:
 numerical test, all controls * position_horizontal: position of the
 cricket placed horizontally. Both orientation and position relative to the
 position of the shelter * choice_horizontal: 1 = chose cricket in
 horizontal orientation, 0 choice of cricket oriented vertically ##
 Code/software The data is readable in Excel. Code
 ([https://github.com/Pablo-Recio/CORT-Temp_Numerical](https://github.com/Pablo-Recio/CORT-Temp_Numerical)) is readable in R (Quartos), both the independent files and the code embedded within the text. ## Access information Other publicly accessible locations of the data: * [https://github.com/Pablo-Recio/CORT-Temp_Numerical](https://github.com/Pablo-Recio/CORT-Temp_Numerical) Data was derived from the following sources: * None