Performance and thermal sensitivity of the southernmost lizards in the world, Liolaemus sarmientoi and Liolaemus magellanicus

Running in cold weather: morphology, thermal biology, and performance in the southernmost lizard clade in the world (Liolaemus lineomaculatussection: Liolaemini: Iguania)

“…We have to consider that most studies of coadaptation (including this one) have focused on one or two physiological performance traits whose links to fitness are likely complex (Angilletta, 2009b), suggesting caution is needed in the adaptive interpretation of such patterns. Finally, it has been shown that thermal biology based on body temperatures in relation to air temperature tends to be labile rather than conservative in Liolaemini lizards (Rodríguez‐Serrano et al, 2010; Fernandez et al, 2011) but other physiological aspects such as metabolic rate have been demonstrated to be conservative (Cruz et al, 2011). …”

“…It is particularly interesting that despite inhabiting a cold and harsh environment, these Liolaemus lizards did not cope well with low temperatures. This may indicate a low rate of evolution of thermal characteristics or a short evolutionary time in this type of environments (Fernandez et al, 2011). Surprisingly, there are close to 40 species of Liolaemus south of 42°S and among them 18 species belonging to the lineomaculatus section (Scolaro, 2005; Breitman et al, 2011), then further research is needed to clarify how these interesting lizards have been successful in Patagonia tolerating the extreme climatic conditions that characterize this region.…”

Thermal relationships between body temperature and environment conditions set upper distributional limits on oviparous species

“…The difference between T b and T pref is especially steep in L. magellanicus and L. sarmientoi, which are far from achieving T pref and the optimal T b to reach their maximum performance (T o ) in their natural environment (Ferná ndez et al, 2011).…”

Climate, geographic distribution and Viviparity in Liolaemus (Reptilia; Squamata) species: when hypotheses need to be tested

“…Las especies de Liolaemus parecen estar adaptadas a temperaturas ambientales bajas (Cruz et al 2005;Rodríguez-Serrano et al 2009;Fernández et al 2011;Medina et al 2012;Moreno Azócar et al 2013), tanto por su relación con los valores medios de Tc como en los de TCmín (Cruz et al 2005;Bonino et al 2011, Moreno Azócar et al 2013). …”