Incubation temperature modifies neonatal thermoregulation in the lizard Anolis carolinensis

Abstract

The thermal environment experienced during embryonic development can profoundly affect the phenotype, and potentially the fitness, of ectothermic animals. We examined the effect of incubation temperature on the thermal preferences of juveniles in the oviparous lizard, Anolis carolinensis. Temperature preference trials were conducted in a laboratory thermal gradient within 48 hr of hatching and after 22-27 days of maintenance in a common laboratory environment. Incubation temperature had a significant effect on the upper limit of the interquartile range (IQR) of temperatures selected by A. carolinensis within the first 2 days after hatching. Between the first and second trials, the IQR of selected temperatures decreased significantly and both the lower limit of the IQR and the median selected temperature increased significantly. This, along with a significant incubation temperature by time interaction in the upper limit of the IQR, resulted in a pattern of convergence in thermoregulation among treatment groups. The initial differences in selected temperatures, as well as the shift in selected temperatures between first and second trials, demonstrate plasticity in temperature selection. As a previous study failed to find environmentally induced plasticity in temperature selection in adult A. carolinensis, this study suggests that this type of plasticity is exclusive to the period of neonatal development.

Analysis of Transient Receptor Potential Ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) in Frogs and Lizards Illuminates Both Nociceptive Heat and Chemical Sensitivities and Coexpression with TRP Vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) in Ancestral Vertebrates

“…4, E-H), which is higher than the preferred body temperature or selected ambient temperatures for green anoles (37,38). Taking into account that TRPA1 serves as a nociceptive receptor, differences in the temperature thresholds for activation between TRPA1s of WC frogs and green anoles may …”

Effects of night-time warming on temperate ectotherm reproduction: potential fitness benefits of climate change for side-blotched lizards

“…Hatchling size, in turn, affects fitness in Uta (Ferguson and Fox, 1984), as well as in other lizards (Andrews et al, 2000;Telemeco et al, 2010), suggesting that climate warming could increase lizard fitness as a result of changes in offspring size alone. Incubation temperature also affects hatchling thermoregulation (Goodman and Walguarnery, 2007) and locomotor performance (Elphick and Shine, 1998;Hare et al, 2008), which could impact fitness. A complicating factor for determining potential thermal effects on fitness is that any benefit from increased incubation temperature in nature is dependent upon dam nest-site choice, which has been shown to affect both nest temperature and resulting hatchling phenotype (Doody et al, 2006;Schwanz and Janzen, 2008;Weisrock and Janzen, 1999).…”

Plasticity of preferred body temperatures as means of coping with climate change?

“…Concerning the plastic component, attention should be dedicated not only to seasonal responses but also to plasticity induced during development. The developmental plasticity of T p seems particularly important in tropical species [9,22] that are, in general, subjected to lower seasonal variation in operative temperatures than temperate taxa [12].…”