Evaporative water loss in isolated populations of the coastal side-blotched lizard Uta stansburiana hesperis

Latitudinal and Climatic Variation in Body Size and Dorsal Scale Counts in Sceloporus Lizards:a Phylogenetic Perspective

“…If scale number and size variation is important for differences in cutaneous water loss, then we would expect species in areas with less precipitation and/or those that are more arid to have more, and hence smaller, scales to decrease rates of cutaneous water loss, consistent with our results. Additionally, temperature per se may not be as important a selective agent on scale attributes because Sceloporus lizards can behaviorally thermoregulate (e.g., Bogert 1949;Huey 1974;Regal 1975), whereas they cannot, to our knowledge, control rates of evaporation behaviorally through the skin, but potentially can alter rates of evaporation through adjustments of body temperature (Thorpe and Kontogiannis 1977). Clearly, direct measures of water loss in a variety of lizard species, combined with measures of scale size and number, are warranted.…”

Latitudinal and Climatic Variation in Body Size and Dorsal Scale Counts in Sceloporus Lizards:a Phylogenetic Perspective

“…If scale number and size variation is important for differences in cutaneous water loss, then we would expect species in areas with less precipitation and/or those that are more arid to have more, and hence smaller, scales to decrease rates of cutaneous water loss, consistent with our results. Additionally, temperature per se may not be as important a selective agent on scale attributes because Sceloporus lizards can behaviorally thermoregulate (e.g., Bogert 1949;Huey 1974;Regal 1975), whereas they cannot, to our knowledge, control rates of evaporation behaviorally through the skin, but potentially can alter rates of evaporation through adjustments of body temperature (Thorpe and Kontogiannis 1977). Clearly, direct measures of water loss in a variety of lizard species, combined with measures of scale size and number, are warranted.…”

Latitudinal and Climatic Variation in Body Size and Dorsal Scale Counts in Sceloporus Lizards:a Phylogenetic Perspective

“…If scale number and size variation is important for differences in cutaneous water loss, then we would expect species in areas with less precipitation and/or those that are more arid to have more, and hence smaller, scales to decrease rates of cutaneous water loss, consistent with our results. Additionally, temperature per se may not be as important a selective agent on scale attributes because Sceloporus lizards can behaviorally thermoregulate (e.g., Bogert 1949;Huey 1974;Regal 1975), whereas they cannot, to our knowledge, control rates of evaporation behaviorally through the skin, but potentially can alter rates of evaporation through adjustments of body temperature (Thorpe and Kontogiannis 1977). Clearly, direct measures of water loss in a variety of lizard species, combined with measures of scale size and number, are warranted.…”

Latitudinal and Climatic Variation in Body Size and Dorsal Scale Counts in Sceloporus Lizards:a Phylogenetic Perspective

“…If scale number and size variation is important for differences in cutaneous water loss, then we would expect species in areas with less precipitation and/or those that are more arid to have more, and hence smaller, scales to decrease rates of cutaneous water loss, consistent with our results. Additionally, temperature per se may not be as important a selective agent on scale attributes because Sceloporus lizards can behaviorally thermoregulate (e.g., Bogert 1949;Huey 1974;Regal 1975), whereas they cannot, to our knowledge, control rates of evaporation behaviorally through the skin, but potentially can alter rates of evaporation through adjustments of body temperature (Thorpe and Kontogiannis 1977). Clearly, direct measures of water loss in a variety of lizard species, combined with measures of scale size and number, are warranted.…”