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Adams DM, Williamson SA, Evans RG, Reina RD. Increasing hypoxia progressively slows early embryonic development in an oviparous reptile, the green turtle, Chelonia mydas. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2022; 9:220709. [PMID: 36061518 PMCID: PMC9428527 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.220709] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2022] [Accepted: 08/12/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Green turtle (Chelonia mydas) embryos are in an arrested state of development when the eggs are laid, but in the presence of oxygen, arrest is broken and development resumes within 12-16 h. However, the precise oxygen level at which embryos break arrest and continue development is not known. To better understand the impact of oxygen concentration on breaking of arrest and early embryonic development, we incubated freshly laid eggs of the green sea turtle for three days at each of six different oxygen concentrations (less than or equal to 1%, 3%, 5%, 7%, 9% and 21%) and monitored the appearance and growth of white spots on the shell, indicative of embryonic development. As reported previously, white spots did not develop on eggs incubated in anoxia (less than or equal to 1% oxygen). For all other treatments, mean time to white spot detection and white spot growth rate varied inversely with oxygen concentration. In nearly all cases the difference between eggs at different oxygen levels was statistically significant (p ≤ 0.05). This suggests that sea turtle embryonic development may respond to oxygen in a dose-dependent manner. Our results indicate that the development of green turtle embryos may be slowed if they are exposed to the most hypoxic conditions reported in mature natural nests.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Roger G. Evans
- Cardiovascular Disease Program, Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Physiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia
- Pre-clinical Critical Care Unit, Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia
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2
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Hudel L, Kappeler PM. Sex-specific movement ecology of the shortest-lived tetrapod during the mating season. Sci Rep 2022; 12:10053. [PMID: 35710848 PMCID: PMC9203456 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-14156-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2021] [Accepted: 06/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Sex-specific reproductive strategies are shaped by the distribution of potential mates in space and time. Labord’s chameleon (Furcifer labordi) from southwestern Madagascar is the shortest-lived tetrapod whose life-time mating opportunities are restricted to a few weeks. Given that these chameleons grow to sexual maturity within about three months and that all individuals die soon after breeding, their mating strategies should be adapted to these temporal constraints. The reproductive tactics of this or any other Malagasy chameleon species have not been studied, however. Radio-tracking and observations of 21 females and 18 males revealed that females exhibit high site fidelity, move small cumulative and linear distances, have low corresponding dispersal ratios and small occurrence distributions. In contrast, males moved larger distances in less predictable fashion, resulting in dispersal ratios and occurrence distributions 7–14 times larger than those of females, and males also had greater ranges of their vertical distribution. Despite synchronous hatching, males exhibited substantial inter-individual variation in body mass and snout-vent length that was significantly greater than in females, but apparently unrelated to their spatial tactics. Females mated with up to 6 individually-known mates, but frequent encounters with unmarked individuals indicate that much higher number of matings may be common, as are damaging fights among males. Thus, unlike perennial chameleons, F. labordi males do not seem to maintain and defend territories. Instead, they invest vastly more time and energy into locomotion for their body size than other species. Pronounced variation in key somatic traits may hint at the existence of alternative reproductive tactics, but its causes and consequences require further study. This first preliminary study of the mating system of a Malagasy chameleon indicates that, as in other semelparous tetrapods, accelerated life histories are tied to a mating system with intense contest and scramble competition among males.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lennart Hudel
- Department of Sociobiology/Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Kellnerweg 6, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Peter M Kappeler
- Department of Sociobiology/Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Kellnerweg 6, 37077, Göttingen, Germany. .,Behavioral Ecology Unit, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute of Primate Biology, Kellnerweg 4, 37077, Göttingen, Germany.
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3
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Whittington CM, Van Dyke JU, Liang SQT, Edwards SV, Shine R, Thompson MB, Grueber CE. Understanding the evolution of viviparity using intraspecific variation in reproductive mode and transitional forms of pregnancy. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2022; 97:1179-1192. [PMID: 35098647 PMCID: PMC9064913 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12836] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2021] [Revised: 01/18/2022] [Accepted: 01/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
How innovations such as vision, flight and pregnancy evolve is a central question in evolutionary biology. Examination of transitional (intermediate) forms of these traits can help address this question, but these intermediate phenotypes are very rare in extant species. Here we explore the biology and evolution of transitional forms of pregnancy that are midway between the ancestral state of oviparity (egg‐laying) and the derived state, viviparity (live birth). Transitional forms of pregnancy occur in only three vertebrates, all of which are lizard species that also display intraspecific variation in reproductive phenotype. In these lizards (Lerista bougainvillii, Saiphos equalis, and Zootoca vivipara), geographic variation of three reproductive forms occurs within a single species: oviparity, viviparity, and a transitional form of pregnancy. This phenomenon offers the valuable prospect of watching ‘evolution in action’. In these species, it is possible to conduct comparative research using different reproductive forms that are not confounded by speciation, and are of relatively recent origin. We identify major proximate and ultimate questions that can be addressed in these species, and the genetic and genomic tools that can help us understand how transitional forms of pregnancy are produced, despite predicted fitness costs. We argue that these taxa represent an excellent prospect for understanding the major evolutionary shift between egg‐laying and live birth, which is a fundamental innovation in the history of animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camilla M. Whittington
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences The University of Sydney Heydon‐Laurence Building A08 Sydney NSW 2006
| | - James U. Van Dyke
- Department of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, School of Molecular Sciences La Trobe University Building 4 Wodonga VIC 3689 Australia
| | - Stephanie Q. T. Liang
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences The University of Sydney Heydon‐Laurence Building A08 Sydney NSW 2006
| | - Scott V. Edwards
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Harvard University, and Museum of Comparative Zoology Cambridge MA 02138 U.S.A
| | - Richard Shine
- Department of Biological Sciences Macquarie University North Ryde NSW 2109 Australia
| | - Michael B. Thompson
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences The University of Sydney Heydon‐Laurence Building A08 Sydney NSW 2006
| | - Catherine E. Grueber
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences The University of Sydney Heydon‐Laurence Building A08 Sydney NSW 2006
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4
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Meiri S, Murali G, Zimin A, Shak L, Itescu Y, Caetano G, Roll U. Different solutions lead to similar life history traits across the great divides of the amniote tree of life. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2021; 28:3. [PMID: 33557958 PMCID: PMC7869468 DOI: 10.1186/s40709-021-00134-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2020] [Accepted: 01/15/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Amniote vertebrates share a suite of extra-embryonic membranes that distinguish them from anamniotes. Other than that, however, their reproductive characteristics could not be more different. They differ in basic ectothermic vs endothermic physiology, in that two clades evolved powered flight, and one clade evolved a protective shell. In terms of reproductive strategies, some produce eggs and others give birth to live young, at various degrees of development. Crucially, endotherms provide lengthy parental care, including thermal and food provisioning—whereas ectotherms seldom do. These differences could be expected to manifest themselves in major differences between clades in quantitative reproductive traits. We review the reproductive characteristics, and the distributions of brood sizes, breeding frequencies, offspring sizes and their derivatives (yearly fecundity and biomass production rates) of the four major amniote clades (mammals, birds, turtles and squamates), and several major subclades (birds: Palaeognathae, Galloanserae, Neoaves; mammals: Metatheria and Eutheria). While there are differences between these clades in some of these traits, they generally show similar ranges, distribution shapes and central tendencies across birds, placental mammals and squamates. Marsupials and turtles, however, differ in having smaller offspring, a strategy which subsequently influences other traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shai Meiri
- School of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, 6997801, Tel Aviv, Israel. .,The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Tel Aviv University, 6997801, Tel Aviv, Israel.
| | - Gopal Murali
- Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben Gurion, Israel
| | - Anna Zimin
- School of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, 6997801, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Lior Shak
- School of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, 6997801, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Yuval Itescu
- Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), 12587, Berlin, Germany.,Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195, Berlin, Germany
| | - Gabriel Caetano
- Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben Gurion, Israel
| | - Uri Roll
- Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben Gurion, Israel
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5
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O’Donoghue TL, Slater K, Brown LR. Seasonal habitat utilisation and morphological characteristics of Chamaeleo dilepis on Telperion Nature Reserve, Mpumalanga, South Africa. AFR J HERPETOL 2020. [DOI: 10.1080/21564574.2020.1798290] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Trevor L O’Donoghue
- Applied Behavioural Ecology and Ecosystem Research Unit, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of South Africa, Florida, South Africa
| | - Kerry Slater
- Applied Behavioural Ecology and Ecosystem Research Unit, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of South Africa, Florida, South Africa
| | - Leslie R Brown
- Applied Behavioural Ecology and Ecosystem Research Unit, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of South Africa, Florida, South Africa
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6
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Hughes DF, Blackburn DG. Evolutionary origins of viviparity in Chamaeleonidae. J ZOOL SYST EVOL RES 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/jzs.12328] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Daniel F. Hughes
- Department of Animal Sciences University of Illinois Urbana IL USA
| | - Daniel G. Blackburn
- Department of Biology, Electron Microscopy Center Trinity College Hartford CT USA
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7
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Andrews RM. Developmental plasticity in reptiles: Insights into thermal and maternal effects on chameleon phenotypes. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY PART 2018; 329:298-307. [DOI: 10.1002/jez.2160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2018] [Revised: 03/16/2018] [Accepted: 03/24/2018] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Robin M. Andrews
- Department of Biological Sciences; Virginia Tech; Blacksburg Virginia
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9
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Smith D, Vinci J, Anderson CV, Eckles JK, Ridgley F, Mazzotti FJ. Observations on Nesting and Clutch Size inFurcifer oustaleti(Oustalet's Chameleon) in South Florida. SOUTHEAST NAT 2016. [DOI: 10.1656/058.015.sp808] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Dustin Smith
- Conservation and Research Department, Zoo Miami, Miami, FL 33177
- Current address - North Carolina Zoological Park, Asheboro, NC 27205
| | - Joy Vinci
- Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center (FLREC), University of Florida, Davie, FL 33314
| | - Christopher V. Anderson
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620
- Current address - Department of Biology, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD 57069
| | - Jennifer Ketterlin Eckles
- Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Davie, FL 33314
- Current address - FLREC, University of Florida, Davie, FL 33314
| | - Frank Ridgley
- Conservation and Research Department, Zoo Miami, Miami, FL 33177
| | - Frank J. Mazzotti
- Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center (FLREC), University of Florida, Davie, FL 33314
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Diaz RE, Anderson CV, Baumann DP, Kupronis R, Jewell D, Piraquive C, Kupronis J, Winter K, Bertocchini F, Trainor PA. The Veiled Chameleon (Chamaeleo calyptratus Duméril and Duméril 1851): A Model for Studying Reptile Body Plan Development and Evolution. Cold Spring Harb Protoc 2015; 2015:889-894. [PMID: 26310903 DOI: 10.1101/pdb.emo087700] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Vertebrate model organisms have facilitated the discovery and exploration of morphogenetic events and developmental pathways that underpin normal and pathological embryological events. In contrast to amniotes such as Mus musculus (Mammalia) and Gallus gallus (Aves), our understanding of early patterning and developmental events in reptiles (particularly nonavians) remains weak. Squamate reptiles (lizards, snakes, and amphisbaenians) comprise approximately one-third of all living amniotes. But studies of early squamate development have been limited because, in most members of this lineage, embryo development at the time of oviposition is very advanced (limb bud stages and older). In many cases, squamates give birth to fully developed offspring. However, in the veiled chameleon (Chamaeleo calyptratus), embryos have progressed only to a primitive pregastrula stage at the time of oviposition. Furthermore, the body plan of the veiled chameleon is highly specialized for climbing in an arboreal environment. It possesses an entire suite of skeletal and soft anatomical modifications, including cranioskeletal ornamentation, lingual anatomy and biomechanics for projection, autopodial clefting for grasping, adaptations for rapid integumental color changes, a prehensile tail with a lack of caudal autotomy, the loss of the tympanum in the middle ear, and the acquisition of turreted eyes. Thus, C. calyptratus is an important model organism for studying the role of ecological niche specialization, as well as genetic and morphological evolution within an adaptive framework. More importantly, this species is easily bred in captivity, with only a small colony (<10 individuals) needed to obtain hundreds of embryos every year.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raul E Diaz
- Department of Biology, La Sierra University, Riverside, California 92515; Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California 90007
| | - Christopher V Anderson
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912
| | - Diana P Baumann
- Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, Missouri 64110
| | - Richard Kupronis
- Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, Missouri 64110
| | - David Jewell
- Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, Missouri 64110
| | | | - Jill Kupronis
- Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, Missouri 64110
| | - Kristy Winter
- Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, Missouri 64110
| | - Federica Bertocchini
- Instituto de Biomedicina y Biotechnologia de Cantabria-CSIC-Universidad de Cantabria-Sodercan, Santander, Spain 39012
| | - Paul A Trainor
- Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, Missouri 64110; Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas 66160
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11
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Meiri S, Feldman A, Kratochvíl L. Squamate hatchling size and the evolutionary causes of negative offspring size allometry. J Evol Biol 2015; 28:438-46. [DOI: 10.1111/jeb.12580] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2014] [Revised: 11/03/2014] [Accepted: 12/19/2014] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- S. Meiri
- Department of Zoology; Tel Aviv University; Tel Aviv Israel
| | - A. Feldman
- Department of Zoology; Tel Aviv University; Tel Aviv Israel
| | - L. Kratochvíl
- Department of Ecology; Faculty of Science; Charles University in Prague; Praha Czech Republic
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12
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Tolley KA, Chauke LF, Jackson JC, Feldheim KA. Multiple paternity and sperm storage in the Cape Dwarf Chameleon (Bradypodion pumilum). AFR J HERPETOL 2014. [DOI: 10.1080/21564574.2013.872701] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Krystal A. Tolley
- Applied Biodiversity Research Division, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Cape Town, South Africa
- Department of Botany & Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
| | - Lucas F. Chauke
- Applied Biodiversity Research Division, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Jennifer C. Jackson
- Department of Botany & Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
| | - Kevin A. Feldheim
- Pritzker Laboratory for Molecular Systematics and Evolution, The Field Museum, Chicago, IL, USA
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Stewart JR. Fetal nutrition in lecithotrophic squamate reptiles: Toward a comprehensive model for evolution of viviparity and placentation. J Morphol 2013; 274:824-43. [DOI: 10.1002/jmor.20141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2012] [Revised: 01/21/2013] [Accepted: 01/26/2013] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
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14
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Ecology of the Flap-Necked Chameleon Chamaeleo dilepis In Southern Africa. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2012. [DOI: 10.3099/532.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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