Reptiles of the Northwest: California to Alaska: Rockies to the Coast

Macartney, Malcolm; John, A

doi:10.2307/3536724

Cited by 3 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…Extant species of Phrynosoma are located in habitats that range from dry to semi‐arid open country, with rocky and sandy soil having low vegetation (Behler and King, 1979; Brown et al, 1995; St. John, 2002; Stebbins, 2003), with certain species found in vegetation ranging from grasses, shrubs, coniferous forests and broadleaf woodland (Brown et al, 1995; St. John, 2002; Stebbins, 2003; Hammerson, 2005). Habitat elevations range from 0 to 3400 m (Behler and King, 1979; Munger, 2002).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

First reported fossil occurrences of Phrynosoma sp. from the Columbia Plateau (Washington State, USA) dated to the Late Pleistocene

Richter,

Pickles,

Barton

2024

J Quaternary Science

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Reptiles, squamates in particular, can be extremely valuable as indicator species due to their commonly small fundamental niche ranges. Yet these taxa are often overlooked in North American Cenozoic palaeoecological studies in favour of mammalian specimens. At the Coyote Canyon Mammoth Site (CCMS) on the Columbia Plateau (eastern Washington State, USA) excavation has focused on the collection and subsequent identification of all diagnostic fossil specimens, whether associated directly with the mammoth remains or not, including small non‐mammalian vertebrates and invertebrates. Here we show that with appropriate excavation techniques, microvertebrate fossils are recoverable and can be identified to at least the genus level. We place the identification of two fossils of Phrynosoma at the CCMS, dated to ~13 and 15 ka, in the context of all recorded fossils identified to this genus in North America since the Middle Miocene. These specimens represent the first fossils of Phrynosoma adequately described and reported from the Columbia Plateau and the greater Pacific Northwest.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

First reported fossil occurrences of Phrynosoma sp. from the Columbia Plateau (Washington State, USA) dated to the Late Pleistocene

Richter,

Pickles,

Barton

2024

J Quaternary Science

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“…elegans and Th. ordinoides , that co‐occur with Taricha (Figure 6; St. John, 2002; Westphal, 2007). In particular, Th.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…elegans in central coastal California can bear striking resemblance to local Th. sirtalis , with red dorsal coloration organized into recognizable blotches (St. John, 2002; Stebbins, 2003). However, both Th.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most garter snakes are dull brown or black, but many western Th. sirtalis populations that are sympatric with toxic newts have bright red colour patterning on the dorsal body and head (Figure 1; St. John, 2002; Stebbins, 2003; Westphal, 2007), suggesting that TTX‐resistant (and TTX‐toxic) garter snakes have evolved a conspicuous warning signal to predators.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The retained levels of TTX are enough to kill a snake's own predators (Williams et al, 2004(Williams et al, , 2012, which include mostly birds and some mammals (Ernst & Ernst, 2003;Rossman et al, 1996). Anecdotally, TTX-resistant snake populations that consume toxic newts also exhibit conspicuous colour patterns, especially along the Oregon coast (St. John, 2002;Stebbins, 2003). Most garter snakes are dull brown or black, but many western Th.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Conspicuous coloration of toxin‐resistant predators implicates additional trophic interactions in a predator–prey arms race

et al. 2022

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Antagonistic coevolution between natural enemies can produce highly exaggerated traits, such as prey toxins and predator resistance. This reciprocal process of adaptation and counter-adaptation may also open doors to other evolutionary novelties not directly involved in the phenotypic interface of coevolution. We tested the hypothesis that predator-prey coevolution coincided with the evolution of conspicuous coloration on resistant predators that retain prey toxins. In western North America, common garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis) have evolved extreme resistance to tetrodotoxin (TTX) in the coevolutionary arms race with their deadly prey, Pacific newts (Taricha spp.). TTX-resistant snakes can retain large amounts of ingested TTX, which could serve as a deterrent against the snakes' own predators if TTX toxicity and resistance are coupled with a conspicuous warning signal. We evaluated whether arms race escalation covaries with bright red coloration in snake populations across the geographic mosaic of coevolution. Snake colour variation departs from the neutral expectations of population genetic structure and covaries with escalating clines of newt TTX and snake resistance at two coevolutionary hotspots. In the Pacific Northwest, bright red coloration fits an expected pattern of an aposematic warning to avian predators: TTX-resistant snakes that consume highly toxic newts also have relatively large, reddish-orange dorsal blotches. Snake coloration also seems to have evolved with the arms race in California, but overall patterns are less intuitively consistent with aposematism. These results suggest that interactions with additional trophic levels can generate novel traits as a cascading consequence of arms race coevolution across the geographic mosaic.

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Ecology and Ontogenetic Variation of Diet in the Pigmy Short-Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma Douglasii)

Lahti

Beck

2008

The American Midland Naturalist

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Reptiles of the Northwest: California to Alaska: Rockies to the Coast

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

First reported fossil occurrences of Phrynosoma sp. from the Columbia Plateau (Washington State, USA) dated to the Late Pleistocene

First reported fossil occurrences of Phrynosoma sp. from the Columbia Plateau (Washington State, USA) dated to the Late Pleistocene

Conspicuous coloration of toxin‐resistant predators implicates additional trophic interactions in a predator–prey arms race

Ecology and Ontogenetic Variation of Diet in the Pigmy Short-Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma Douglasii)

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