Life-history traits of the lizard Sceloporus undulatus from two populations raised in a common laboratory environment

Abstract

Hatchling Sceloporus undulatus elongatus from Washington Co., Utah and S. u. garmani from Woods Co., Oklahoma were raised to maturity and reproduction under identical laboratory conditions with ad libitum food availability. Growth, allometry, age and size of maturity, clutch size and egg mass were compared among lab-raised cohorts from the two populations, among lab-raised and field-caught animals (including their field-caught mothers) and, for growth, with values obtained by previously published field studies on the same or nearby populations. For all traits population differences observed in previous field studies and current field samples resulted from both a plastic response to proximate environmental conditions and intrinsic (possibly genetic) difference. The most plastic traits were growth and age of maturity. Cohorts from both populations expressed the ability to mature in less than 6 months in the laboratory but only the S.u. garmani express early maturity in the field. Allometric differences generated during growth in the lab were not observed in field samples but may reflect an adaptive physiological difference. The least plastic trait was egg mass. The only trait for which the rank order of the difference in the field was reversed in the lab was growth rate. S.u. elongatus grew significantly faster than S.u. garmani in the lab but much slower in the field. The tendency of S.u. garmani females to breed at minimum size of maturity may be greater than that of S.u. elongatus.

Effect of light intensity on the foraging and growth of Atlantic cod larvae:interpopulation difference?

“…Geographic variation in growth and survival among populations of the same species has been well documented in reptiles (Ferguson & Talent 1993), fishes (Blaxter & Hempel 1963, Houde 1989, Fleming & Gross 1990, Castro & Cowen 1991, Present & Conover 1992, Mathias et al 1993, and some invertebrates (Lonsdale & Levinton 1985). Although studies have examined geographic variation in growth and survival among fish populations, most of these have dealt with salmonids and adult fish (Fleming & Gross 1990, Present & Conover 1992, Mathias et al 1993.…”

“…In contrast, little work has been done on geographic variation in the early life history of fishes (Blaxter & Hempel 1963, Houde 1989, Castro & Cowen 1991. It has been hypothesized and demonstrated that animal populations which are geographically separated respond differently to particular environmental variables (Ferguson & Talent 1993). These differences could be interpreted as an evolutionary response or adaptation to the different levels of environmental constraints that each population experiences in nature (Ricker 1972).…”

Mudanças climáticas e os lagartos brasileiros sob a perspectiva da história de vida.

“…Em adultos, os efeitos descritos são bastante consistentes. Os lagartos que passam mais tempo em altas Tc apresentam maiores taxas de crescimento (Davis, 1967;Ballinger, 1983;Avery, 1984;Sinervo e Adolph, 1989;Grant e Dunham, 1990;Sinervo, 1990; Autumn e De Nardo, 1995) e antecipam o amadurecimento sexual (Grant e Dunham, 1990;Ferguson e Talent, 1993; Wapstra e col., 2001). Em ambientes mais quentes (como baixas latitudes), a reprodução é em geral igualmente antecipada (Fitch, 1970;Goldberg, 1974;Duvall e col., 1982) e, em consequência, viabiliza a produção de mais de uma ninhada por ano (Goldberg, 1974;Jones e col., 1987;James e Shine, 1988).…”

Ecology of Sceloporus undulatus speari (Sauria: Phrynosomatidae) from North-Central Chihuahua, México

“…Perhaps no other species of lizard has received as much attention in this regard as Sceloporus undulatus, which has been the subject of numerous statistical and theoretical analyses of geographic variation in life-history traits (e.g., Tinkle and Ballinger, 1972;Tinkle and Dunham, 1986;Gillis and Ballinger, 1992; Adolph and Porter, 1993, 1996;Niewiarowski, 1994;Smith et al, 1996). More recently, populations of S. undulatus have been the focus of more experimental investigations into the causes of such geographic variation (e.g., Ferguson and Talent, 1993;Niewiarowski and Roosenburg, 1993;Niewiarowski, 1995Niewiarowski, , 2001 Angilletta, 2001a,b).Although S. undulatus has served as a model organism for studying geographic variation, much of the information used in these analyses has come from North American populations and subspecies. Relatively little detailed information is known about the biology and ecology of the Mexican populations and subspecies of S. undulatus (but for studies on Sceloporus belli, formerly Sceloporus undulatus belli in Durango, México, see Barbault et al, 1978;Barbault and Maury, 1981; Gadsden-Esparza and Aquirre-León, 1993).…”

“…Perhaps no other species of lizard has received as much attention in this regard as Sceloporus undulatus, which has been the subject of numerous statistical and theoretical analyses of geographic variation in life-history traits (e.g., Tinkle and Ballinger, 1972;Tinkle and Dunham, 1986;Gillis and Ballinger, 1992;Adolph andPorter, 1993, 1996;Niewiarowski, 1994;Smith et al, 1996). More recently, populations of S. undulatus have been the focus of more experimental investigations into the causes of such geographic variation (e.g., Ferguson and Talent, 1993;Niewiarowski and Roosenburg, 1993;Niewiarowski, 1995Niewiarowski, , 2001Angilletta, 2001a,b).…”