Abstract. The rapid expansion of urban environments invariably presents a novel series
of pressures on wildlife due to changes in external environmental factors.
In reptiles, any such changes in temperature are critical since
thermoregulation is the key driver in the function of many physiological
processes. How reptiles adapt to such changes may vary from those species
that are impacted negatively to others that have the behavioural flexibility
to exploit new conditions. In this paper we describe retreat site selection,
movements and aspects of the thermal ecology of the African lizard Agama agama in urban
environments of West Africa. In early evening lizards began movement from
late-afternoon core activity areas and ascended the walls of houses for
overnight retreats. A high proportion retreated to locations in groups
under or on top of warm electrical panels. The thermal potential these
panels offered was the attainment of body temperatures equal to or higher
than the minimum preferred body temperature (PBT ≈ 36 ∘C
in A. agama) and hence increased physiological performance. The lizards that took
advantage of the heat sources travelled further each day to and from diurnal
activity areas than individuals that spent the night high on walls but not
next to heat panels. There were both potential costs (enhanced predation
pressures) and benefits (impacts on thermal ecology, retreat site selection)
of this behaviour for lizards living in urban environments.
This parasitological study was carried out between February and May 2019 to determine the prevalence and intensity of helminthiasis in the rainbow lizard (Agama agama) in Okrika, Rivers State, Nigeria. A total of one hundred and fifty-one (151) specimens made up of 93 males and 75 females were caught by a local netting system during the day and anaesthesized with chloroform. Samples were collected from two stations (Ogoloma-Ama and Oba-Ama). After dissection, the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, rectum, liver, lungs, urinary bladder, heart and body cavity were searched for helminths using conventional methods. Five species of helminths belonging to Nematoda - Strongyluris brevicaudata, Parapharyngodon awokoyai, encysted Ascaridida larva, Cestoda - Oochoristica sp. and Trematoda - Mesocoelium spp - were recovered from infected lizards. Helminths infected one hundred and twenty-three (123) (82%) of the lizards. In Oba-Ama, forty-five (45) (76.3%) out of 59 and in Ogoloma-Ama, seventy-eight (78) (84.8%) out of 92 were infected with helminths. By abundance, in both locations, the males were more infected than their female counterparts with a prevalence of 51(93%) and 72(75%) (P<0.05), respectively. This study has revealed the helminth parasites infecting the agamid lizard of Rivers State, Nigeria. It has also shown some unidentified species of Mesocoelium and Oochoristica sp. Additionally the trapping system used was also found to be effective and efficient.
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