Modeling the distributions of tegu lizards in native and potential invasive ranges

Abstract

Invasive reptilian predators can have substantial impacts on native species and ecosystems. Tegu lizards are widely distributed in South America east of the Andes, and are popular in the international live animal trade. Two species are established in Florida (U.S.A.) - Salvator merianae (Argentine black and white tegu) and Tupinambis teguixin sensu lato (gold tegu) – and a third has been recorded there— S. rufescens (red tegu). We built species distribution models (SDMs) using 5 approaches (logistic regression, multivariate adaptive regression splines, boosted regression trees, random forest, and maximum entropy) based on data from the native ranges. We then projected these models to North America to develop hypotheses for potential tegu distributions. Our results suggest that much of the southern United States and northern México probably contains suitable habitat for one or more of these tegu species. Salvator rufescens had higher habitat suitability in semi-arid areas, whereas S. merianae and T. teguixin had higher habitat suitability in more mesic areas. We propose that Florida is not the only state where these taxa could become established, and that early detection and rapid response programs targeting tegu lizards in potentially suitable habitat elsewhere in North America could help prevent establishment and abate negative impacts on native ecosystems.

Broad similarities in shoulder muscle architecture and organization across two amniotes: implications for reconstructing non-mammalian synapsids

“…While varanid and iguanian lizards have traditionally been used as models of plesiomorphic amniote posture and locomotion (Jenkins & Goslow, 1983;Padian & Olsen, 1984;Ritter, 1996;Blob & Biewener, 1999;Blob, 2000;Farlow & Pianka, 2000;Clemente et al, 2011;Dick & Clemente, 2016), tegus were chosen here to represent a more shallowly-nested clade of terrestrial generalists (Sheffield et al, 2011;Simões et al, 2018) of growing importance as laboratory animals (Bennett & John-Alder, 1984;Montero et al, 2004;Toledo et al, 2008;Sheffield et al, 2011). In comparison, among extant mammals, didelphid opossums are a well-established plesiomorphic model for therian development, anatomy, and locomotion (Broom, 1899;Jenkins, 1971b;Hiiemae & Crompton, 1985;Klima, 1985;Parchman, Reilly & Biknevicius, 2003;Sánchez-Villagra & Maier, 2003;Gosnell et al, 2011;Hübler et al, 2013;Diogo et al, 2016;Bhullar et al, 2019).…”

“…Both are active foragers capable of sustained locomotion, with basal metabolic rates that overlap during the warmer spring and summer months (Urban, 1965;Fournier & Weber, 1994;Toledo et al, 2008). Finally, individuals of both species are easily available; S. merianae is invasive to southeastern Florida (Pernas et al, 2012;Jarnevich et al, 2018), while D. virginiana is commonplace throughout North and Central America (McManus, 1974). These traits make tegus and opossums ideal animal models for exploring anatomical and functional adaptations for "sprawling" and "erect" limb posture in amniotes Sheffield et al, 2011;Gosnell et al, 2011).…”

Predicting the Potential Distribution of an Invasive Species, Solenopsis invicta Buren (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), under Climate Change using Species Distribution Models

“…Invasive species cause adverse impacts on the global community (Jarnevich et al . ; Pejchar & Mooney ; Pyšek et al . ).…”

“…These species are termed invasive species. Invasive species cause adverse impacts on the global community (Jarnevich et al 2018;Pejchar & Mooney 2009;Pyšek et al 2012). Invasive species not only reduce biodiversity (Bellard et al 2016) but also cause extinction of native species (Van Wilgen & Richardson 2012).…”

“…Ward (2009) predicted potential distribution of the red imported fire ant by using ecological niche modeling including climatic variables. Recently, several studies have used species distribution models (SDMs) of invasive species to model potential distribution under current environmental conditions (Jarnevich et al 2018;Václavík & Meentemeyer 2009). In these previous studies, SDMs have been shown to be effective tools for modeling the potential distribution of target species with environmental variables (Franklin 2010).…”