The effects of substratum on locomotor performance in lacertid lizards

Abstract

Locomotion is important to animals because it has direct implications for fitness through its role in predator escape, prey capture, and territory defence. Despite significant advances in our understanding of animal locomotion, studies exploring how substrate properties affect locomotor performance remain scant. In the present study, we explore how variation in substrate (sand, slate, cork) affects locomotor performance in lacertid lizards that differ in morphology. Moreover, we explore whether substrate effects are the same for different types of locomotor performance (speed, acceleration, and stamina). Our results show that the substrate affected most types of locomotor performance studied but not always in the same way. Although substrate effects were species‐dependent for the maximal speed over 50 cm and the distance run to exhaustion, this was not the case for acceleration capacity. These results suggest that substrate texture differentially affects burst performance vs. longer duration measures of locomotor performance. Finally, straightforward relationships between habitat use and the substrate on which performance was maximized were not observed. This suggests that the evolution of locomotor capacity is complex and that animals may show compromise phenotypes allowing them to deal with a variety of substrates in their natural environment. © 2015 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2015, ●●, ●●–●●.

City slickers: poor performance does not deter Anolis lizards from using artificial substrates in human‐modified habitats

“…Previous studies of the effects of substrate on locomotor performance in lizards have focused primarily on variation in substrate inclination and diameter (Huey & Hertz 1982;Losos & Sinervo 1989;Spezzano & Jayne 2004), but fewer studies have assessed the effects of substrate texture or roughness (but see Tulli, Abdala & Cruz 2012;Brandt, Galvani & Kohlsdorf 2015;Vanhooydonck et al 2015). Using a lizard habitat generalist, Tropidurus torquatus, Brandt, Galvani & Kohlsdorf (2015) found a positive relationship between grip strength and maximum sprint speed across seven different types of substrate on a level track.…”

Surface friction alters the agility of a small Australian marsupial

“…On the high-friction surface, antechinus used faster pre-turn speeds in later trials, but this did not make them more or less likely to slip when turning. Lizards run faster on high-friction surfaces (Brandt et al, 2015;Höfling et al, 2012;Vanhooydonck et al, 2015), but our results suggest that variation in straight-running speeds over different surfaces may be due in part to choices made by the animals rather than biomechanical constraints. The risk and cost of motor mistakes are likely to be important in speed choice, particularly during predator pursuits.…”

“…Friction is so important to animal movement that many species have evolved specialised foot pads or claws to augment their purchase on the ground (Alexander, 2002;Cartmill, 1979). Although studies on lizards recorded faster straight running speeds on substrates that allowed increased friction (Brandt et al, 2015;Höfling et al, 2012;Vanhooydonck et al, 2015), to our knowledge, no studies have compared other performance traits across substrates that vary in surface friction.…”

Sprint performance of a generalist lizard running on different substrates: grip matters

“…The best described effects of habitat structure on lizard locomotor performance are the speed reductions observed in animals moving on inclined surfaces (Irschick & Jayne, ; Jayne & Irschick, ) and on perches of distinct diameters (Losos & Sinervo, ; Losos & Irschick, ). The effects of moving on different substrates on running speeds are less known (Van Damme & Vanhooydonck, ; but see also Kohlsdorf et al ., ; Vanhooydonck et al ., ; Kohlsdorf & Navas, ; Tulli, Abdala & Cruz, ; Vanhooydonck et al ., ), and the focus of the existing studies has mostly been given to the evolution of morphologies adapted to specific substrates (Kohlsdorf et al ., ; Tulli et al ., ). The influence of characteristics as grip or structural complexity of different substrates on performance, on the contrary, still remains neglected (with some exceptions as Vanhooydonck et al ., and Li et al ., ).…”

“…Frictional properties of the substrates also potentially affect performance, as the interaction between a lizard's foot and substrates of different textures likely results on distinct friction coefficients (Alexander, 2003). Accordingly, lower friction coefficients probably restrict acceleration and limit maximum sprint speeds (Vanhooydonck et al, 2015) likely determining if animals slip during locomotion (van der Tol et al, 2005) and how do lizards grip to specific substrates (Zani, 2000;Tulli, Abdala & Cruz, 2011).…”