Chemical composition of femoral secretions of oviparous and viviparous types of male common lizards Lacerta vivipara

Gabirot, Marianne; López, Pílar; Martı́n, José; Fraipont, Michelle de; Heulin, Benoı̂t; Sinervo, Barry; Clobert, Jean

doi:10.1016/j.bse.2008.03.006

Cited by 39 publications

(21 citation statements)

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“…Femoral (or precloacal or preanal) secretions of lizards are composed of proteins and many lipophilic compounds that may function as chemosignals Weldon et al, 2008). However, the specific chemical compounds found in secretions are only known for a few species, including several species of lacertids (Gabirot et al, 2008(Gabirot et al, , 2010aKhannoon et al, 2011aKhannoon et al, , 2011bKopena et al, 2009;López and Martín, 2005b, 2005cMartín and López, 2006c, 2006dMartín et al, 2013c), an African cordylid (Louw et al, 2007), an American teid , several iguanians (Alberts, 1990;Alberts et al, 1992aAlberts et al, , 1992bEscobar et al, 2001Escobar et al, , 2003Weldon et al, 1990), agamids (Chauhan, 1986;, gekkonids (Chauhan, 1986;Khannoon, 2012) and one amphisbaenian Martín, 2005d, 2009b). Among the lipophilic compounds secreted, steroids, fatty acids, alcohols, waxy esters, squalene, tocopherol, ketones and aldehydes are commonly found in different proportions (reviewed in Weldon et al, 2008).…”

Section: Sources and Characteristics Of Lizards' Chemosignalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Condition-dependent chemosignals in reproductive behavior of lizards

Martı́n

López

2015

Hormones and Behavior

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This article is part of a Special Issue "Chemosignals and Reproduction". Many lizards have diverse glands that produce chemosignals used in intraspecific communication and that can have reproductive consequences. For example, information in chemosignals of male lizards can be used in intrasexual competition to identify and assess the fighting potential or dominance status of rival males either indirectly through territorial scent-marks or during agonistic encounters. Moreover, females of several lizard species "prefer" to establish or spend more time on areas scent-marked by males with compounds signaling a better health or body condition or a higher genetic compatibility, which can have consequences for their mating success and inter-sexual selection processes. We review here recent studies that suggest that the information content of chemosignals of lizards may be reliable because several physiological and endocrine processes would regulate the proportions of chemical compounds available for gland secretions. Because chemosignals are produced by the organism or come from the diet, they should reflect physiological changes, such as different hormonal levels (e.g. testosterone or corticosterone) or different health states (e.g. parasitic infections, immune response), and reflect the quality of the diet of an individual. More importantly, some compounds that may function as chemosignals also have other important functions in the organism (e.g. as antioxidants or regulating the immune system), so there could be trade-offs between allocating these compounds to attending physiological needs or to produce costly sexual "chemical ornaments". All these factors may contribute to maintain chemosignals as condition-dependent sexual signals, which can inform conspecifics on the characteristics and state of the sender and allow making behavioral decisions with reproductive consequences. To understand the evolution of chemical secretions of lizards as sexual signals and their relevance in reproduction, future studies should examine what information the signals are carrying, the physiological processes that can maintain the reliability of the message and how diverse behavioral responses to chemosignals may influence reproductive success.

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Section: Sources and Characteristics Of Lizards' Chemosignalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Condition-dependent chemosignals in reproductive behavior of lizards

Martı́n

López

2015

Hormones and Behavior

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“…Femoral pores of females are very small, but they also play a role in scent marking, as demonstrated by the behaviour of males that closely follow female trails for several metres while repeatedly tongue-flicking the substrate. There is a growing literature on the chemical composition of the secretions of the femoral glands (Alberts, 1991;Gabirot et al, 2008) and their role in communicating individual quality, dominance status, or health state to potential mates (Moreira, López & Martín, 2006;Martín et al, 2007). One important aspect of the investment in chemical signals is their durability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexual dimorphism and interpopulation differences in lizard hind limb length: locomotor performance or chemical signalling?

Iraeta

Monasterio

Salvador

et al. 2011

Biological Journal of the Linnean Society

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Intraspecific variation in morphology has often been related to fitness differences through its effects on performance. In lizards, variation in hind limb length can be shaped by natural selection for increased locomotor performance, sexual selection on the number or size of femoral pores involved in chemical signalling, or both. Here, we analyse the selective forces involved in sexual dimorphism and differences in hind limb length between two populations of Psammodromus algirus living at different elevation. Males were more robust and had longer hind limbs and limb segments than females, and low-elevation lizards had longer limbs than high-elevation lizards. However, differences in locomotor performance were small and non-significant, making natural selection for faster runs an unlikely explanation for the observed pattern. On the other hand, males had more femoral pores than females, and lizards had more pores at lower elevation, although the difference was significant only for males (which invest more in chemical signalling). In males, the number of pores, which remains constant along a lizard's life, was not correlated with hind limb length. However, femur length was positively correlated with mean pore size, allowing low-elevation males to have larger than expected pores, which could increase the effectiveness with which they spread their signals in a dry and warm habitat where chemicals become volatile rapidly. Also, saturation of the sexual coloration of the head was higher for low-elevation males, suggesting that sexual selection pressures may be more intense. Overall, our results indicate that sexual selection plays a significant role in shaping intraspecific variation in hind limb length.

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“…Also, many others of the minor steroids are different in both species. In contrast, in other lacertid lizards, cholesterol was the main steroid, and the main lipid, and it was found in high abundance: 67% in Lacerta monticola (López and Martín, 2005 d), between 52 and 63% in several species of Podarcis lizards (Martín and López, 2006b), and 86% in Lacerta vivipara (Gabirot et al, 2008). Cholesterol was also found in L. schreiberi, but in considerably lower portion (6.4%) , and was not found in L. viridis.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…Both, the similar microhabitats and the close phylogenetic relationship between these two green lizards may explain the presence of large amounts of α-tocopherol in the secretions. α-Tocopherol was also found, although in much less amounts (between 0.1 and 1.9%), in femoral secretions of the European lacertid, but unrelated, lizards Acanthodactylus erythrurus, Psammodromus algirus, Podarcis muralis and Lacerta vivipara (López and Martín, 2005b;Martín and López, 2006b, c;Gabirot et al, 2008), and also in the South African cordylid, Cordylus giganteus (Louw et al, 2007). Furthermore, other unrelated reptiles such as amphisbaenians and crocodiles also have α-tocopherol in their glandular secretions (López and Martín, 2005c;Weldon et al, 1987Weldon et al, , 1988.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Lipophilic Compounds from the Femoral Gland Secretions of Male Hungarian Green Lizards, Lacerta viridis

Kopena

López

Martı́n

2009

Zeitschrift Für Naturforschung C

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In spite of the importance of chemical signals (pheromones) in the reproductive behaviour of lizards, only a few studies have examined the role of specifi c chemical compounds as sexual signals. The secreted chemicals vary widely between species but whether this variation refl ects phylogenetic or environmental differences remains unclear. Based on mass spectra, obtained by GC-MS, we found 40 lipophilic compounds in femoral gland secretions of male green lizards (Lacerta viridis), including several steroids, α-tocopherol, and esters of n-C 16 to n-C 20 carboxylic acids, and minor components such as alcohols between C 12 and C 20 , squalene, three lactones and one ketone. We compared these chemicals with those previously found in other closely related green lizard species, and discussed how phylogenetical differences and/or environmental conditions could be responsible for the differential presence of chemicals in different lizard species.

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Chemical composition of femoral secretions of oviparous and viviparous types of male common lizards Lacerta vivipara

Cited by 39 publications

References 40 publications

Condition-dependent chemosignals in reproductive behavior of lizards

Condition-dependent chemosignals in reproductive behavior of lizards

Sexual dimorphism and interpopulation differences in lizard hind limb length: locomotor performance or chemical signalling?

Lipophilic Compounds from the Femoral Gland Secretions of Male Hungarian Green Lizards, Lacerta viridis

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