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Chabaud C, Berroneau M, Berroneau M, Dupoué A, Guillon M, Viton R, Gavira RSB, Clobert J, Lourdais O, Le Galliard JF. Climate aridity and habitat drive geographical variation in morphology and thermo-hydroregulation strategies of a widespread lizard species. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2022. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blac114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Thermo-hydroregulation strategies involve concurrent changes in functional traits related to energy, water balance and thermoregulation and play a key role in determining life-history traits and population demography of terrestrial ectotherms. Local thermal and hydric conditions should be important drivers of the geographical variation of thermo-hydroregulation strategies, but we lack studies that examine these changes across climatic gradients in different habitat types. Here, we investigated intraspecific variation of morphology and thermo-hydroregulation traits in the widespread European common lizard (Zootoca vivipara louislantzi) across a multidimensional environmental gradient involving independent variation in air temperature and rainfall and differences in habitat features (access to free-standing water and forest cover). We sampled adult males for morphology, resting metabolic rate, total and cutaneous evaporative water loss and thermal preferences in 15 populations from the rear to the leading edge of the distribution across an elevational gradient ranging from sea level to 1750 m. Besides a decrease in adult body size with increasing environmental temperatures, we found little effect of thermal conditions on thermo-hydroregulation strategies. In particular, relict lowland populations from the warm rear edge showed no specific ecophysiological adaptations. Instead, body mass, body condition and resting metabolic rate were positively associated with a rainfall gradient, while forest cover and water access in the habitat throughout the season also influenced cutaneous evaporative water loss. Our study emphasizes the importance of rainfall and habitat features rather than thermal conditions for geographical variation in lizard morphology and physiology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chloé Chabaud
- Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, Université La Rochelle, CNRS , UMR 7372, 405 Route de Prissé la Charrière, 79360 Villiers-en-Bois , France
- iEES Paris, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, UMR 7618, Faculté Sciences et Ingénierie , 4 place Jussieu, 75005 Paris , France
| | | | - Maud Berroneau
- Cistude Nature, Chemin du Moulinat , 33185 Le Haillan , France
| | - Andréaz Dupoué
- iEES Paris, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, UMR 7618, Faculté Sciences et Ingénierie , 4 place Jussieu, 75005 Paris , France
| | - Michaël Guillon
- Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, Université La Rochelle, CNRS , UMR 7372, 405 Route de Prissé la Charrière, 79360 Villiers-en-Bois , France
- Cistude Nature, Chemin du Moulinat , 33185 Le Haillan , France
| | - Robin Viton
- Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, Université La Rochelle, CNRS , UMR 7372, 405 Route de Prissé la Charrière, 79360 Villiers-en-Bois , France
| | - Rodrigo S B Gavira
- Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, Université La Rochelle, CNRS , UMR 7372, 405 Route de Prissé la Charrière, 79360 Villiers-en-Bois , France
| | - Jean Clobert
- Station d’Ecologie Théorique et Expérimentale, CNRS , UMR 5321, Route du CNRS, Moulis , France
| | - Olivier Lourdais
- Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, Université La Rochelle, CNRS , UMR 7372, 405 Route de Prissé la Charrière, 79360 Villiers-en-Bois , France
| | - Jean-François Le Galliard
- iEES Paris, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, UMR 7618, Faculté Sciences et Ingénierie , 4 place Jussieu, 75005 Paris , France
- École normale supérieure, PSL Research University, Département de biologie, CNRS, UMS 3194, Centre de recherche en écologie expérimentale et prédictive (CEREEP-Ecotron IleDeFrance) , 78 rue du château, 77140 Saint-Pierre-lès-Nemours , France
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Weidler JM, Lutterschmidt WI. Nature or Nurture: Can Prey-Based Diets Influence Species-Specific Physiological Performance Traits of Epidermal Lipid Content and Cutaneous Water Loss? Integr Org Biol 2021; 3:obaa043. [PMID: 33791586 PMCID: PMC7905159 DOI: 10.1093/iob/obaa043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Epidermal lipids serve as the primary barrier to cutaneous water loss (CWL) and play a significant role in water conservation and homeostasis. Previous studies have shown the correlation between increased aridity of habitats and the amount of epidermal lipids among species. Generally, increased amounts of epidermal lipids lower skin permeability. Species-specific differences in CWL and prey preferences between two sympatric snake species, the Northern Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus) and the Eastern Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix), motivated us to question if prey-base can result in these observed species-specific differences in CWL. We experimentally controlled the diets for a captive colony of Northern Cottonmouths (A. piscivorus) by feeding either fish (Notemigonus crysoleucas) or mice (Mus musculus) to investigate if diet can affect the quantity and quality of epidermal lipids and the rates of CWL. Snakes fed mice gained consistently more mass, but diet treatments did not affect growth rate. We found no significant differences in quantitative lipid content or rates of CWL between diet treatments. An analysis for qualitative lipid content using infrared spectrophotometry also showed no diet effect, thus suggesting that lipid content and CWL are strong species-specific physiological performance traits not influenced by recent dietary history. While there is some evidence that epidermal permeability may be variable under certain environmental conditions (e.g., humidity), our findings show that diet has no effect and that a shift in prey preference may not influence or enhance physiological performance for decreasing CWL.
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Affiliation(s)
- J M Weidler
- Department of Biological Sciences, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX 77341, USA
- South Dakota Bureau of Information and Telecommunications, Pierre, SD 57501, USA
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Allam AA, Daza JD, Abo-Eleneen RE. Histology of the Skin of Three Limbless Squamates Dwelling in Mesic and Arid Environments. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2016; 299:979-89. [PMID: 27111253 DOI: 10.1002/ar.23356] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2015] [Revised: 03/05/2016] [Accepted: 03/08/2016] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
The skin of limbless squamates has an increased contact with the substrate compared with limbed counterparts. Comparatively, the contact with the substrate is intensified in fossorial species, where the whole circumference of the body interacts with the soil during underground locomotion. Although fossoriality in Squamata, specifically lizards and snakes, has been studied ecologically and morphologically (e.g., osteological changes), not enough detail is yet available regarding changes in organs critical for underground lifestyle such as the skin. Here we used histological and microscopical techniques (scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy) to uncover the structural detail of the epidermis and dermis in three limbless reptiles, the amphisbaenian Diplometopon zarudnyi, and two snakes, Indotyphlops braminus (Typhlopidae) and Cerastes cerastes (Viperidae). The skin of these taxa shows pronounced morphological diversity, which is likely associated to different environmental and functional demands upon these reptiles. Anat Rec, 299:979-989, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ahmed A Allam
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Beni-Suef University, Beni-Suef, 65211, Egypt.,College of Science, Zoology Department, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia
| | - Juan D Daza
- Department of Biological Sciences, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas
| | - Rasha E Abo-Eleneen
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Beni-Suef University, Beni-Suef, 65211, Egypt
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