Ultrasonographic anatomy of bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps)

Abstract

Lateralized eye use is thought to increase brain efficiency, as the two hemispheres process different information perceived by the eyes. It has been observed in a wide variety of vertebrate species and, in general, information about conspecifics appear to elicit a left eye preference whilst information about prey elicits the opposite. In reptiles, this phenomenon has only been investigated using live conspecifics in agonistic contexts, and so it is not clear whether it can be found when using video stimuli. Here, bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps) were presented with videos of female conspecifics and prey that either moved or were stationary, along with a control video of an empty background. Females exhibited a left eye bias towards conspecifics but males did not, however, both sexes looked at conspecifics significantly longer than prey. Further, animals used their left eye significantly longer when viewing moving stimuli of both categories. These results suggest that, in lizards, lateralized eye use when viewing conspecifics may be controlled by sex, and strongly influenced by stimulus movement. This study therefore provides important insights into the role of lateralized processing in lizard perception, and sets the scene for future work investigating the role of sex on perception of conspecifics and the role of motion in lateralized eye use.

Ultrasonographic anatomy of reproductive female leopard geckos (Eublepharis macularius)

“…), who practice exclusively in zoological medicine, one of them being a Diplomate of the American College of Zoological Medicine and the other in training for specialization. The sample size was determined based on previously published imaging studies in reptiles . Age ranged from 6 to 21 months with all individuals being of similar size (weight ranged from 33 to 60 g; length ranged from 15 to 20 cm, and width from 2 to 3 cm).…”

“…Indeed, the tail of the leopard gecko serves as an important site of fat storage and similar to other fat‐tailed species, lipid deposits are distributed all along the length of the tail . The ultrasonographic appearance of coelomic organs has been reported in bearded dragons ( Pogona vitticeps ), green iguanas ( Iguana iguana ), bosc monitor ( Varanus exanthematicus ), veiled chameleons ( Chameleo calyptratus ), loggerhead see turtles ( Caretta caretta ), boa constrictor ( Boa constrictor ), and other boid snakes among others.…”

“…The objectives of this study were to develop an ultrasound technique and to describe ultrasonographic anatomy of healthy leopard geckos including identification of the organs that are normally visible on ultrasound. Based on published studies in others lizards, we could expect to be able to visualize and describe numerous coelomic organs such as the liver, the digestive tract (which is simple and divided in three main parts: longitudinal stomach, small intestines, and colon), the reproductive tract, and the fat bodies of our leopard geckos. Given the small size of this species, we expected an impaired visualization of very fine structures such as adrenal glands, pancreas, or spleen.…”

Causes of consultations and results of radiological and ultrasound methods in lizard diseases (2006-2014)

“…The world literature, however, does include publications on correct tomographic, radiological and ultrasound images for particular groups of reptiles (1)(2)(3). The majority of publications are based on case studies of individual animals, selected groups of animals or suborders of snakes and lizards and orders of turtles.…”

“…Growing attention is being focused on their health problems, as well as on diagnostic capabilities (3,19). However, diagnostic imaging of these animals can be problematic, as reptiles are characterized by large anatomic variability (1,16,17).…”