Some human diseases, including obesity, Type II diabetes, and numerous cancers, are thought to be influenced by environments experienced in early life, including in utero. Maternal diet during the perinatal period may be especially important for adult offspring energy balance, potentially affecting both body composition and physical activity. This effect may be mediated by the genetic background of individuals, including, for example, potential “protective” mechanisms for individuals with inherently high levels of physical activity or high basal metabolic rates. To examine some of the genetic and environmental factors that influence adult activity levels, we used an ongoing selection experiment with 4 replicate lines of mice bred for high voluntary wheel running (HR) and 4 replicate, non-selected control lines (C). Dams (half HR and half C) were fed a “Western” diet (WD, high in fat and sucrose) or a standard diet (SD) from 2 weeks prior to mating until their pups could feed on solid food (14 days of age). We analyzed dam and litter characteristics from birth to weaning, and offspring mass and physical activity. One male offspring from each litter received additional metabolic and behavioral tests. Maternal WD caused pups to eat solid food significantly earlier for C litters, but not for HR litters (interaction of maternal environment and genotype). With dam mass as a covariate, mean pup mass was increased by maternal WD but litter size was unaffected. HR dams had larger litters and tended to have smaller pups than C dams. Home-cage activity of juvenile focal males was increased by maternal WD. Juvenile lean mass, fat mass, and fat percent were also increased by maternal WD, but food consumption (with body mass as a covariate) was unaffected (measured only for focal males). Behavior in an elevated plus maze, often used to indicate anxiety, was unaffected by maternal WD. Maximal aerobic capacity (VO2max) was also unaffected by maternal WD, but HR had higher VO2max than C mice. Adult lean, fat, and total body masses were significantly increased by maternal WD, with greater increase for fat than for lean mass. Overall, no aspect of adult wheel running (total distance, duration, average running speed, maximum speed) or home-cage activity was statistically affected by maternal WD. However, analysis of the 8 individual lines revealed that maternal WD significantly increased wheel running in one of the 4 HR lines. On average, all groups lost fat mass after 6 days of voluntary wheel running, but the absolute amount lost was greater for mice with maternal WD resulting in no effect of maternal WD on absolute or % body fat after wheel access. All groups gained lean and total body mass during wheel access, regardless of maternal WD or linetype. Measured after wheel access, circulating leptin, adiponectin, and corticosterone concentrations were unaffected by maternal WD and did not differ between HR and C mice. With body mass as a covariate, heart ventricle mass was increased by maternal WD in both HR and C mice, but fat pad...

Animals are constrained by their abilities and by interactions with environmental factors, such as low ambient temperatures. These constraints range from physical impossibilities to energetic inefficiencies, and may entail trade-offs. Some of the constraints related to locomotion and activity metabolism can be illustrated through allometric comparisons of mammals and lizards, as representative terrestrial vertebrate endotherms and ectotherms, respectively, because these lineages differ greatly in aerobic metabolic capacities, resting energetic costs, and thermoregulatory patterns. Allometric comparisons are both useful and unavoidable, but "outlier" species (unusual for their clade) can also inform evolutionary scenarios, as they help indicate extremes of possible adaptation within mammalian and saurian levels of organization. We compared mammals and lizards for standard metabolic rate (SMR), maximal oxygen consumption during forced exercise (VO2max), net (incremental) cost of transport (NCT), maximal aerobic speed (MAS), daily movement distance (DMD), daily energy expenditure (DEE) during the active season, and the ecological cost of transport (ECT = percentage of DEE attributable to locomotion). (Snakes were excluded because their limbless locomotion has no counterpart in terrestrial mammals.) We only considered lizard SMR, VO2max, NCT, MAS, and sprint speed data if measured at 35-40 °C. On average, MAS is ∼7.4-fold higher in mammals, whereas SMR and VO2max are ∼6-fold greater, but values for all three of these traits overlap (or almost overlap) between mammals and lizards, a fact that has not previously been appreciated. Previous studies show that sprint speeds are similar for smaller mammals and lizards, but at larger sizes lizards are not as fast as some mammals. Mammals move ∼6-fold further each day than lizards, and DMD is by far the most variable trait considered here, but their NCT is similar. Mammals exceed lizards by ∼11.4-fold for DEE. On average for both lineages, the ECT is surprisingly low, somewhat higher for lizards, and positively allometric. If a lizard and mammal of 100 g body mass were both to move their entire DMD at their MAS, they could do so in ∼21 and 17 min, respectively, thus de-emphasizing the possible importance of time constraints. We conclude that ecological-energetic constraints related to locomotion are relatively more likely to occur in large, carnivorous lizards. Overall, our comparisons support the idea that the (gradual) evolution of mammalian endothermy did not necessarily require major changes in locomotor energetics, performance, or associated behaviors. Instead, we speculate that the evolution of thermoregulatory responses to low temperatures (e.g., shivering) may have been a key and "difficult" step in this transition.

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Home range is defined as the area traversed during normal daily activities, such as foraging, avoiding predators, and social or antagonistic behaviors. All else being equal, larger home ranges should be associated with longer daily movement distances and/or higher average movement speeds. The maximal rate of oxygen consumption (VO2max) generally sets an upper limit to the intensity of work (e.g., speed of locomotion) that an animal can sustain without fatigue. Therefore, home range area and VO2max are predicted to evolve in concert (coadapt). We gathered literature data on home range and VO2max for 55 species of mammals. We computed residuals from log-log (allometric) regressions on body mass with two different regression models: ordinary least squares (OLS) and phylogenetic generalized least squares (PGLS). Residuals were weakly positively related for both the OLS (r = 0.278, one-tailed P < 0.05) and PGLS (r = 0.210, P > 0.05) regressions. For VO2max, the PGLS regression model had a slightly higher likelihood than the OLS model, but the situation was reversed for home range area. In addition, for both home range area and VO2max, models that fit better than either OLS or PGLS were obtained by modeling residual variation with the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process to mimic stabilizing selection (RegOU), indicating that phylogenetic signal is present in both size-adjusted traits, consistent with findings of previous studies. (However, residuals from the RegOU models cannot be tested for correlation due to mathematical complexities.) We conclude that the best estimate of the residual correlation is probably somewhere between these two values reported above. Possible reasons for the low correlation between residual home range area and VO2max are discussed.

Trade-offs are a common focus of study in evolutionary biology and in studies of locomotor physiology and biomechanics. A previous comparative study of 12 species of European lacertid lizards found a statistically significant negative correlation between residual locomotor speed and stamina (controlling for variation in body size), consistent with ideas about trade-offs in performance based on variation in muscle fiber type composition and other subordinate traits. To begin examining the generality of this finding in other groups of squamates, we measured maximal sprint running speed on a high-speed treadmill and endurance at 1.0 km/h (0.28 m/s) in 14 species of North American phrynosomatid lizards, plus a sample of nine additional species to encompass some of the broadscale diversity of lizards. We used both conventional and phylogenetically informed regression analyses to control for some known causes of performance variation (body size, stockiness, body temperature) and then computed residual performance values. We found no evidence for a trade-off between speed and endurance among the 14 phrynosomatids or among the 23 species in the extended data set. Possible explanations for the apparent difference between lacertids and phrynosomatids are discussed.

Differences in advertisement calls and calling sites are important mechanisms that regulate interactions in anuran assemblages. Individuals might have preferences for ranges of acoustic parameters and calling sites that reduce overlap and ensure coexistence. Herein, acoustic and ecological data were used to investigate the relationships among 12 anurans that co-occur in temporary ponds in the Caatinga, Cabaceiras municipality, Paraíba state, Brazil. Anurans exhibited calling activity correlated with rainfall, but were also spatially dispersed. High overlap levels in calling microhabitats and acoustic parameters were observed, especially among pairs of closely related species. Analysis of null models showed a lack of structure in the spatial and acoustic niche, indicating the lack of detected competition. Results suggest that the calling activity of the species is strongly influenced by rainfall, moreover, the temporal partition appears to ensure coexistence. Finally, strong historical effects were detected in Leiuperinae, Leptodactylidae and in the partition Hylidae-Leptodactyliformes.

The maximum amount of oxygen consumed during forced exercise (V̇O2max) sets the upper limit to the effort that can be sustained over relatively long periods and can limit activity levels in nature. Among ectotherms, V̇O2max is primarily affected by body size and body temperature, but it should also coadapt with behavior, ecology, and life history aspects. We compiled published data from 11 different families of lizards, including 58 species and 7 populations (total 65 data points) and tested whether V̇O2max was related to diet (herbivore, insectivore, insectivore/carnivore, carnivore, and omnivore), climate (tropical, temperate, and arid), nocturnality, viviparity, or family. We fitted models that included body mass and measurement temperature as covariates, and all possible combinations of other independent variables using ordinary least-squares (OLS) and phylogenetic regressions assuming an Ornstein-Uhlenbeck model of residual trait evolution (RegOU). The sum of Akaike weights for each independent variable revealed viviparity (∑wi=0.996) and the combined set of dummy variables coding for helodermatids, varanids, and skinks (∑wi=0.996) as the most important predictors. These three families had relatively high V̇O2max. They are composed mainly of active foragers that probably benefit from higher V̇O2max. Viviparity had a negative effect on V̇O2max. Ecological or behavioral factors associated with viviparity (e.g., activity levels), but not included here, may explain this effect. The average allometric slope of V̇O2max from the top eight models (which accounted for 99% of the cumulative evidence) was 0.803, which is similar to that reported previously for lizards and for mammals in general.

Ecological characteristics and environmental variation influence both host species composition and parasite abundance. Abiotic factors such as rainfall and temperature can improve parasite development and increase its reproduction rate. The comparison of these assemblages between different environments may give us a more refined analysis of how environment affects the variation of helminth parasite abundance. The aim of the present study was to evaluate how temporal variation, host size, sex and reproduction affect helminth abundance in the Tropidurus hispidus lizard in Caatinga, Restinga and Atlantic Forest environments. Overall, larger-sized lizards showed higher helminth abundance. We found a monthly variation in the helminth species abundance in all studied areas. In the Caatinga area, monoxenic and heteroxenic parasites were related to the rainy season and to the reproductive period of lizards. In Restinga, monoxenic and heteroxenic helminth species were more abundant during the driest months. In the Atlantic Forest, the rainy and host reproductive season occurred continuously throughout the year, so parasite abundance was relatively constant. Nevertheless, heteroxenic species were more abundant in this area. The present results showed that the temporal variation, body size, sex, reproductive period and habitat type influence the abundance and composition of helminth species in T. hispidus.