Body proportions, microhabitat selection, and adaptive radiation of Liolaemus lizards in central Chile

Jaksić, Fabián M.; Núñez, Herman; Ojeda, Federico P.

doi:10.1007/bf00346457

Cited by 60 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Some studies have shown no relationship between morphology and habitat preference in lizards (Jaksićet al, 1980). Others found anti-predator escape (distance a lizard moved away from potential predator) was correlated with body shape [ particularly body width and pelvic dimensions (Schulte et al, 2004)].…”

Section: Morphological Specialisations For Burrowingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Morphology and burrowing energetics of semi-fossorial skinks (Liopholis)

Alton

Clemente

et al. 2015

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Burrowing is an important form of locomotion in reptiles, but no study has examined the energetic cost of burrowing for reptiles. This is significant because burrowing is the most energetically expensive mode of locomotion undertaken by animals and many burrowing species therefore show specialisations for their subterranean lifestyle. We examined the effect of temperature and substrate characteristics (coarse sand or fine sand) on the net energetic cost of burrowing (NCOB) and burrowing rate in two species of the Egernia group of skinks (Liopholis striata and Liopholis inornata) compared with other burrowing animals. We further tested for morphological specialisations among burrowing species by comparing the relationship between body shape and retreat preference in Egernia group skinks. For L. striata and L. inornata, NCOB is 350 times more expensive than the predicted cost of pedestrian terrestrial locomotion. Temperature had a positive effect on burrowing rate for both species, and a negative effect on NCOB for L. striata but not L. inornata. Both NCOB and burrowing rate were independent of substrate type. Burrows constructed by skinks had a smaller cross-sectional area than those constructed by mammals of comparable mass, and NCOB of skinks was lower than that of mammals of similar mass. After accounting for body size, retreat preference was significantly correlated with body shape in Egernia group skinks. Species of Egernia group skinks that use burrows for retreats have narrower bodies and shorter front limbs than other species. We conclude that the morphological specialisations of burrowing skinks allow them to construct relatively narrow burrows, thereby reducing NCOB and the total cost of constructing their burrow retreats.

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Section: Morphological Specialisations For Burrowingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Morphology and burrowing energetics of semi-fossorial skinks (Liopholis)

Alton

Clemente

et al. 2015

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…Studies on two chameleon species (Losos et al 1993) and on populations of the lizard Sceloporus occidentalis Baird and Girard, 1852 (see Sinervo and Losos 1991) also seem to confirm the ecomorphological hypothesis. On the other hand, analyses of other lizard groups (Liolaemus Wiegmann, 1834: see Jaksic et al 1980, Lacertidae: see Vanhooydonck and Van Damme 1999) have failed to find clear correlations between limb morphology and life style. Even more surprising, ecomorphological relationships among Costa Rican anoles are different from the ones described for Caribbean species (Irschick et al 1997).…”

Section: A Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Limb proportions in climbing and ground-dwelling geckos (Lepidosauria, Gekkonidae): a phylogenetically informed analysis

Zaaf¹,

Damme²

2001

Zoomorphology

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Biomechanical considerations predict that limb proportions should differ between animals with climbing and ground-dwelling lifestyles. Ground-dwellers should have relatively long, parasagittal hind limbs, with high tibia:femur ratios, and relatively short fore limbs. Climbers should have relatively short limbs, with low tibia:femur ratios, and equally long hind and fore limbs. We tested these predictions using gecko species with different locomotion habits (climbing versus ground-dwelling). We measured snout-vent length and lengths of limb segments in 29 species of geckos and analysed them using both non-phylogenetic statistics (nested analysis of variance and principal component analysis) and phylogenetic statistics (analysis of covariance). Neither approach allowed us to find any consistent relationship between habitat use and the morphometric variables. We conclude that either relative limb lengths and limb proportions in geckos have not evolved in response to the physical demands of the microhabitat, or our understanding of those demands is insufficient.

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“…Several examples of the relationship between morphology and habitat use were provided by studies across different taxa, such as primates (Cartmill, 1974), bats (Norberg, 1990;Norberg, 1994;Reilly and Wainwright, 1994), squirrels (Essner, 2007) and lizards (Vanhooydonck et al, 2005), among others. However, some authors found that morphology and habitat type are not always tightly correlated (Jaksic et al, 1980;Schulte et al, 2004;Tulli et al, 2009;Tulli et al, 2011b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Additionally, we explored whether there is a tradeoff between clinging ability and speed in these Liolaemini lizards using equivalent types of substrates. Considering the many previous results that relate morphology and ecological traits in the same lizard group (Jaksic et al, 1980;Schulte et al, 2004;Fernandez et al, 2011;Tulli et al, 2009;Tulli et al, 2011b;Bonino et al, 2011), we predicted that the morphological traits would be better explained by phylogeny. By contrast, because habitat structure might influence locomotor performance, it was reasonable to expect that lizard species would show better performance on a racetrack that mimics their own habitat structure.…”

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confidence: 99%

Effects of different substrates on the sprint performance of lizards

Tulli

Abdala

Cruz

2012

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARYThe variation in substrate structure is one of the most important determinants of the locomotor abilities of lizards. Lizards are found across a range of habitats, from large rocks to loose sand, each of them with conflicting mechanical demands on locomotion. We examined the relationships among sprint speed, morphology and different types of substrate surfaces in species of lizards that exploit different structural habitats (arboreal, saxicolous, terrestrial and arenicolous) in a phylogenetic context. Our main goals were to assess which processes drive variability in morphology (i.e. phylogeny or adaptation to habitat) in order to understand how substrate structure affects sprint speed in species occupying different habitats and to determine the relationship between morphology and performance. Liolaemini lizards show that most morphological traits are constrained by phylogeny, particularly toe3, the femur and foot. All ecological groups showed significant differences on rocky surfaces. Surprisingly, no ecological group performed better on the surface resembling its own habitat. Moreover, all groups exhibited significant differences in sprint speed among the three different types of experimental substrates and showed the best performance on sand, with the exception of the arboreal group. Despite the fact that species use different types of habitats, the highly conservative morphology of Liolaemini species and the similar levels of performance on different types of substrates suggest that they confer to the ʻjack of all trades and master of noneʼ principle.Supplementary material available online at http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/full/215/5/774/DC1 Key words: substrate structure, performance, limb morphology, speed, lizard. THE JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY 775Sprint performance of lizards known about how substrate structure affects speed in species that use different microhabitats, such as climbing and terrestrial lizards (Irschick et al., 1997;Zani, 2000;Higham and Russell, 2010;Tulli et al., 2011a).The focal subjects of our study are Liolaemini lizards, which are members of one of the most diverse and species-rich lizard clades of the world Quinteros et al., 2008;Lobo et al., 2010; Breitman et al., 2011). Liolaemini lizards occur in South America, from central Perú to Tierra del Fuego and from the Pacific to Atlantic coasts, across mostly deserts and highelevation habitats (Cei, 1986). The line of this clade dates from 12.6 to 18 million years ago (Schulte et al., 2000;Albino, 2011). Some species show specialized morphology, for example the sanddweller species of the Liolaemus wiegmannii group (Etheridge, 2000), whereas some others exhibit signs of isolation after the last glacial period (Breitman et al., 2011). Thus, these species show a diversity in habitat usage, including generalized terrestrial as well as habitat specialists living on arboreal substrates, rock boulders (using the crevices or slipping underneath them) or sand (Halloy et al., 1998;Schulte et al., 2004;Tulli et al., 2009;Tul...

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Body proportions, microhabitat selection, and adaptive radiation of Liolaemus lizards in central Chile

Cited by 60 publications

References 24 publications

Morphology and burrowing energetics of semi-fossorial skinks (Liopholis)

Morphology and burrowing energetics of semi-fossorial skinks (Liopholis)

Limb proportions in climbing and ground-dwelling geckos (Lepidosauria, Gekkonidae): a phylogenetically informed analysis

Effects of different substrates on the sprint performance of lizards

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