1
|
Albuquerque RL, Zani PA, Garland T. Lower-level predictors and behavioral correlates of maximal aerobic capacity and sprint speed among individual lizards. J Exp Biol 2023; 226:286757. [PMID: 36700411 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.244676] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2022] [Accepted: 01/11/2023] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
The standard paradigm of organismal biology views lower-level traits (e.g. aspects of physiology) as determining organismal performance ability (e.g. maximal sprint speed), which in turn constrains behavior (e.g. social interactions). However, few studies have simultaneously examined all three levels of organization. We used focal observations to record movement behaviors and push-up displays in the field for adult male Sceloporus occidentalis lizards during the breeding season. We then captured animals, measured aspects of their physiology, morphology and performance, and counted ectoparasites and endoparasites as potential predictors of sprint speed and maximal oxygen consumption (V̇O2,max). Field behaviors were statistically repeatable, but not strongly so. Sprint speed and V̇O2,max were repeatable using residuals from regressions on body mass (speed: r=0.70; V̇O2,max: r=0.88). Both calf [standardized partial regression (path) coefficient B=0.53] and thigh [B=-0.37] muscle mass (as residuals from regressions on body mass) were significant predictors of sprint speed; hemoglobin concentration (B=0.42) was a predictor of V̇O2,max. In turn, V̇O2,max predicted the maximum number of four-legged push-ups per bout (B=0.39). In path analysis, log likelihood ratio tests indicated no direct paths from lower-level traits to behavior, supporting the idea that morphology, in the broad sense, only affects behavior indirectly through measures of performance. Our results show that inter-individual variation in field behaviors can be related to performance ability, which in turn reflect differences in morphology and physiology, although not parasite load. Given the low repeatability of field behaviors, some of the relationships between behavior and performance may be stronger than suggested by our results.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ralph L Albuquerque
- Department of Evolution Ecology and Organismal Biology, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.,Departamento de Sistemática e Ecologia, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, João Pessoa, PB, 58050-585, Brazil
| | - Peter A Zani
- Department of Biology, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Stevens Point, WI 54481-3897, USA
| | - Theodore Garland
- Department of Evolution Ecology and Organismal Biology, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521, USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Marks JR, Beatty AE, Husak JF, Schwartz TS, Lailvaux SP. Sprint training interacts with body mass to affect hepatic insulin-like growth factor expression in female green anoles (Anolis carolinensis). Gen Comp Endocrinol 2022; 327:114067. [PMID: 35640679 DOI: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2022.114067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2022] [Revised: 05/25/2022] [Accepted: 05/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Locomotor performance is a key predictor of fitness in many animal species. As such, locomotion integrates the output of a number of morphological, physiological, and molecular levels of organization, yet relatively little is known regarding the major molecular pathways that bolster locomotor performance. One potentially relevant pathway is the insulin and insulin-like signaling (IIS) network, a significant regulator of physiological processes such as reproduction, growth, and metabolism. Two primary hormones of this network, insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) and insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) are important mediators of these processes and, consequently, of life-history strategies. We sprint-trained green anole (Anolis carolinensis) females to test the responsiveness of IGF1 and IGF2 hepatic gene expression to exercise training. We also tested how sprint training would affect glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) and eukaryotic elongation factor 2 (EEF2). The former is a crucial enzyme for glycolytic function in a cell, and the latter is necessary for protein synthesis. Resistance exercise forces animals to increase investment of resources towards skeletal muscle growth. Because IGF1 and IGF2 are important hormones for growth, and GAPDH and EEF2 are crucial for proper cellular function, we hypothesized that these four genes would be affected by sprint training. We found that sprint training affects IGF and EEF2 expression, such that larger sprint-trained lizards express hepatic IGF1, IGF2, and EEF2 to a lesser extent than similarly sized untrained lizards. These results demonstrate that the IIS, and pathways connected to it, can react in a size-dependent manner and are implicated in the exercise response in reptiles.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jamie R Marks
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Orleans, 2000 Lakeshore Dr., New Orleans, LA 70148, USA.
| | - Abby E Beatty
- Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, 101 Rouse Life Sciences Bldg, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
| | - Jerry F Husak
- Department of Biology, University of St. Thomas, St Paul, MN 55105, USA
| | - Tonia S Schwartz
- Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, 101 Rouse Life Sciences Bldg, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
| | - Simon P Lailvaux
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Orleans, 2000 Lakeshore Dr., New Orleans, LA 70148, USA
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Simon MN, Cespedes AM, Lailvaux SP. Sex-specific multivariate morphology/performance relationships in Anolis carolinensis. J Exp Biol 2022; 225:275160. [PMID: 35363299 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.243471] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2021] [Accepted: 03/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Animals rely on their ability to perform certain tasks sufficiently well to survive, secure mates, and reproduce. Performance traits depend on morphology, and so morphological traits should predict performance, yet this relationship is often confounded by multiple competing performance demands. Males and females experience different selection pressures on performance, and the consequent sexual conflict over performance expression can either constrain performance evolution or drive sexual dimorphism in both size and shape. Furthermore, change in a single morphological trait may benefit some performance traits at the expense of others, resulting in functional trade-offs. Identifying general or sex-specific relationships between morphology and performance at the organismal level thus requires a multivariate approach, as individuals are products both of an integrated phenotype and the ecological environment in which they have developed and evolved. We estimated the multivariate morphology→performance gradient in wild-caught, green anoles (Anolis carolinensis) by measuring external morphology and fore- and hindlimb musculature, and mapping these morphological traits to seven measured performance traits that cover the broad range of ecological challenges faced by these animals (sprint speed, endurance, exertion distance, climbing power, jump power, cling force, and bite force). We demonstrate that males and females differ in their multivariate mapping of traits on performance, indicating that sex-specific ecological demands likely shape these relationships, but do not differ in performance integration.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Ann M Cespedes
- Biology Department, Delgado Community College, 615 City Park Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70119, USA
| | - Simon P Lailvaux
- Department of Biological Sciences, The University of New Orleans, 2000 Lakeshore Drive, New Orleans, LA 70148, USA
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
|
5
|
Abstract
AbstractTrade-offs and constraints are inherent to life, and studies of these phenomena play a central role in both organismal and evolutionary biology. Trade-offs can be defined, categorized, and studied in at least six, not mutually exclusive, ways. (1) Allocation constraints are caused by a limited resource (e.g., energy, time, space, essential nutrients), such that increasing allocation to one component necessarily requires a decrease in another (if only two components are involved, this is referred to as the Y-model, e.g., energy devoted to size versus number of offspring). (2) Functional conflicts occur when features that enhance performance of one task decrease performance of another (e.g., relative lengths of in-levers and out-levers, force-velocity trade-offs related to muscle fiber type composition). (3) Shared biochemical pathways, often involving integrator molecules (e.g., hormones, neurotransmitters, transcription factors), can simultaneously affect multiple traits, with some effects being beneficial for one or more components of Darwinian fitness (e.g., survival, age at first reproduction, fecundity) and others detrimental. (4) Antagonistic pleiotropy describes genetic variants that increase one component of fitness (or a lower-level trait) while simultaneously decreasing another. (5) Ecological circumstances (or selective regime) may impose trade-offs, such as when foraging behavior increases energy availability yet also decreases survival. (6) Sexual selection may lead to the elaboration of (usually male) secondary sexual characters that improve mating success but handicap survival and/or impose energetic costs that reduce other fitness components. Empirical studies of trade-offs often search for negative correlations between two traits that are the expected outcomes of the trade-offs, but this will generally be inadequate if more than two traits are involved and especially for complex physiological networks of interacting traits. Moreover, trade-offs often occur only in populations that are experiencing harsh environmental conditions or energetic challenges at the extremes of phenotypic distributions, such as among individuals or species that have exceptional athletic abilities. Trade-offs may be (partially) circumvented through various compensatory mechanisms, depending on the timescale involved, ranging from acute to evolutionary. Going forward, a pluralistic view of trade-offs and constraints, combined with integrative analyses that cross levels of biological organization and traditional boundaries among disciplines, will enhance the study of evolutionary organismal biology.
Collapse
|
6
|
Lamb AD, Lippi CA, Watkins‐Colwell GJ, Jones A, Warren DL, Iglesias TL, Brandley MC, Dornburg A. Comparing the dietary niche overlap and ecomorphological differences between invasive Hemidactylus mabouia geckos and a native gecko competitor. Ecol Evol 2021; 11:18719-18732. [PMID: 35003704 PMCID: PMC8717282 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2021] [Revised: 10/06/2021] [Accepted: 10/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Hemidactylus mabouia is one of the most successful, widespread invasive reptile species and has become ubiquitous across tropical urban settings in the Western Hemisphere. Its ability to thrive in close proximity to humans has been linked to the rapid disappearance of native geckos. However, aspects of Hemidactylus mabouia natural history and ecomorphology, often assumed to be linked with this effect on native populations, remain understudied or untested. Here, we combine data from ∂15N and ∂13C stable isotopes, stomach contents, and morphometric analyses of traits associated with feeding and locomotion to test alternate hypotheses of displacement between H. mabouia and a native gecko, Phyllodactylus martini, on the island of Curaçao. We demonstrate substantial overlap of invertebrate prey resources between the species, with H. mabouia stomachs containing larger arthropod prey as well as vertebrate prey. We additionally show that H. mabouia possesses several morphological advantages, including larger sizes in feeding-associated traits and limb proportions that could offer a propulsive locomotor advantage on vertical surfaces. Together, these findings provide the first support for the hypotheses that invasive H. mabouia and native P. martini overlap in prey resources and that H. mabouia possess ecomorphological advantages over P. martini. This work provides critical context for follow-up studies of H. mabouia and P. martini natural history and direct behavioral experiments that may ultimately illuminate the mechanisms underlying displacement on this island and act as a potential model for other systems with Hemidactylus mabouia invasions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- April D. Lamb
- Department of Bioinformatics and GenomicsUniversity of North CarolinaCharlotteNorth CarolinaUSA
- North Carolina Museum of Natural SciencesRaleighNorth CarolinaUSA
- Department of Applied EcologyNorth Carolina State UniversityRaleighNorth CarolinaUSA
| | - Catherine A. Lippi
- Department of GeographyQuantitative Disease Ecology and Conservation (QDEC) Lab GroupUniversity of FloridaGainesvilleFloridaUSA
| | | | - Andrew Jones
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyYale UniversityNew HavenConnecticutUSA
| | - Dan L. Warren
- Biodiversity and Biocomplexity UnitOkinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate UniversityOnna, Kunigami DistrictOkinawa PrefectureJapan
| | - Teresa L. Iglesias
- Animal Resource SectionOkinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate UniversityOnna, Kunigami DistrictOkinawa PrefectureJapan
| | - Matthew C. Brandley
- Section of Amphibians and ReptilesCarnegie Museum of Natural HistoryPittsburghPennsylvaniaUSA
| | - Alex Dornburg
- Department of Bioinformatics and GenomicsUniversity of North CarolinaCharlotteNorth CarolinaUSA
- North Carolina Museum of Natural SciencesRaleighNorth CarolinaUSA
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Performance Trade-Offs in Elite Swimmers. ADAPTIVE HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND PHYSIOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s40750-021-00179-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
|
8
|
Lailvaux SP. It’s Not Easy Being Green: Behavior, Morphology, and Population Structure in Urban and Natural Populations of Green Anole (Anolis carolinensis) Lizards. Front Ecol Evol 2020. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2020.570810] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
|
9
|
Agnani P, Thomson J, Schradin C, Careau V. The fast and the curious II: performance, personality, and metabolism in Karoo bush rats. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-020-02908-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
|
10
|
Gomes V, Herrel A, Carretero MA, Kaliontzopoulou A. New Insights into Bite Performance: Morphological Trade-Offs Underlying the Duration and Magnitude of Bite Force. Physiol Biochem Zool 2020; 93:175-184. [DOI: 10.1086/708248] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
|
11
|
Lailvaux SP, Cespedes AM, Weber WD, Husak JF. Sprint speed is unaffected by dietary manipulation in trained male Anolis carolinensis lizards. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY PART 2019; 333:164-170. [PMID: 31867872 DOI: 10.1002/jez.2338] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2019] [Revised: 10/30/2019] [Accepted: 11/26/2019] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Performance traits are energetically costly, and their expression and use can drive trade-offs with other energetically costly life-history traits. However, different performance traits incur distinct costs and may be sensitive to both resource limitation and to the types of resources that are accrued. Protein is likely to be especially important for supporting burst performance traits such as sprint speed, but the effect of varying diet composition on sprint training in lizards, an emerging model system for exercise training, is unknown. We tested the hypothesis that the response to sprint training is sensitive to both the type and amount of resources in Anolis carolinensis. We also measured bite force across all treatments as a control whole-organism performance trait that should be unaffected by locomotor training. Both mass and bite force are reduced by dietary restriction over the course of 9 weeks of sprint training, but sprint speed is unaffected by either training or dietary restriction relative to controls. Furthermore, protein supplementation does not rescue a decline in either mass or bite force in trained, diet-restricted males. These results contrast with those for endurance training, and suggest that sprint speed is more canalized than either endurance or bite force in green anoles.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Simon P Lailvaux
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana
| | - Ann M Cespedes
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana
| | - William D Weber
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana.,Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland
| | - Jerry F Husak
- Department of Biology, University of St. Thomas, Saint Paul, Minnesota
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Benso-Lopes F, Santos S, Palaoro AV. Underwater compensation for exaggerated weaponry: The role of morphology and environment on crab locomotor performance. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY PART 2019; 331:382-391. [PMID: 31290237 DOI: 10.1002/jez.2305] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2019] [Revised: 06/05/2019] [Accepted: 06/06/2019] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Exaggerated morphologies may increase fitness, but they might be costly to bear; heavy weight, for instance, might hinder locomotion. Evidence supporting these costs are sparse because animals that move on land or swim have traits reducing those costs, called compensatory traits. Animals that walk underwater, however, are under different environmental pressures than land animals. Buoyancy, for instance, reduces the effective weight of any object, which could decrease the locomotion costs of carrying exagerrated traits. Hence, underwater species might maintain performance without compensation. To test this, we compared males of the freshwater anomuran Aegla longirostri that bear an exaggerated claw to females (the natural control). We first tested whether the exaggerated claw decreased male locomotor performance. Next, we tested if sexual dimorphism in performance is associated with differences in leg asymmetry, length, and muscle size. Lastly, we tested if large males have proportionally heavier legs than smaller males. Unexpectedly, females are faster than males while also having relatively longer legs than males. Therefore, females might walk faster because of the longer legs, which might be unrelated to the male exaggerated claw. Furthermore, larger males did not have proportionally heavier legs than smaller males, further suggesting no compensation. Hence, even though aeglid's claw weigh ~25% of their total body weight, we did not find evidence for burden or compensation on males. The environment might thus decrease the costs of exaggerated traits.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Fernando Benso-Lopes
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biodiversidade Animal, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Brazil
| | - Sandro Santos
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biodiversidade Animal, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Brazil
| | - Alexandre V Palaoro
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biodiversidade Animal, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Brazil.,LAGE do Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
|