Limb and tail lengths in relation to substrate usage in Tropidurus lizards

Tails play an important role in dynamic stabilization during falling and jumping in lizards. Yet tail autotomy (the voluntary loss of an appendage) is a common mechanism used for predator evasion in these animals. How tail autotomy has an impact on locomotor performance and stability remains poorly understood. The goal of this study was to determine how tail loss affects running kinematics and performance in the arboreal green anole lizard, Anolis carolinensis. Lizards were run along four surface widths (9.5 mm, 15.9 mm, 19.0 mm and flat), before and following 75% tail autotomy. Results indicate that when perturbed with changes in surface breadth and tail condition, surface breadth tends to have greater impacts on locomotor performance than tail loss. Furthermore, while tail loss does have a destabilizing effect during regular running in these lizards, its function during steady locomotion is minimal. Instead, the tail probably plays a more active role during dynamic maneuvers that require dramatic changes in whole body orientation or center of mass trajectories.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tail loss and narrow surfaces decrease locomotor stability in the arboreal green anole lizard (Anolis carolinensis)

Hsieh

2015

“…Furthermore, species were grouped into five different retreat preferences: hollow logs/rock crevices, hollow logs/burrows, burrows, vegetation (under scrub, grass or bush) and trees (arboreal) based on the retreat with which they are most commonly associated in published accounts (supplementary material Table S1). Although tail length has been shown to be significantly associated with retreat type in the literature (Kohlsdorf et al, 2001;Bickel and Losos, 2002;Schulte et al, 2004;Velasco and Herrel, 2007), this association was not considered in the present study because a large number of museum specimens had missing or regenerated tails.…”

Section: Morphometricsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Morphology and burrowing energetics of semi-fossorial skinks (Liopholis)

Alton

Clemente

et al. 2015

Burrowing is an important form of locomotion in reptiles, but no study has examined the energetic cost of burrowing for reptiles. This is significant because burrowing is the most energetically expensive mode of locomotion undertaken by animals and many burrowing species therefore show specialisations for their subterranean lifestyle. We examined the effect of temperature and substrate characteristics (coarse sand or fine sand) on the net energetic cost of burrowing (NCOB) and burrowing rate in two species of the Egernia group of skinks (Liopholis striata and Liopholis inornata) compared with other burrowing animals. We further tested for morphological specialisations among burrowing species by comparing the relationship between body shape and retreat preference in Egernia group skinks. For L. striata and L. inornata, NCOB is 350 times more expensive than the predicted cost of pedestrian terrestrial locomotion. Temperature had a positive effect on burrowing rate for both species, and a negative effect on NCOB for L. striata but not L. inornata. Both NCOB and burrowing rate were independent of substrate type. Burrows constructed by skinks had a smaller cross-sectional area than those constructed by mammals of comparable mass, and NCOB of skinks was lower than that of mammals of similar mass. After accounting for body size, retreat preference was significantly correlated with body shape in Egernia group skinks. Species of Egernia group skinks that use burrows for retreats have narrower bodies and shorter front limbs than other species. We conclude that the morphological specialisations of burrowing skinks allow them to construct relatively narrow burrows, thereby reducing NCOB and the total cost of constructing their burrow retreats.

“…For example, living in relatively open areas might be selective for highspeed sprinting over long distances; conversely, inhabiting highly structured habitats might favor short bursts of locomotion (Fuller et al, 2011). A considerable body of literature has focused on relationships between morphology and ecology (Miles and Ricklefs, 1984;Pounds, 1988;Herrel et al, 2002;Herrel et al, 2008;Herrel et al, 2011;Bickel and Losos, 2002;Irschick, 2002;Goodman et al, 2007;Goodman et al, 2008;Essner, 2007;Kohlsdorf et al, 2001;Kohlsdorf et al, 2004;Kohlsdorf et al, 2008;Marshall et al, 2008;McElroy et al, 2008;Collar et al, 2010;Grizante et al, 2010;Vanhooydonck et al, 2011) or between habitat use and performance (Losos, 1990a;Losos, 1990b;Irschick and Losos, 1999;Melville and Swain, 2000;Vanhooydonck et al, 2005;Mattingly and Jayne, 2004;Autumm et al, 2006;Goodman et al, 2008;Johnson et al, 2010;Bonino et al, 2011;Fuller et al, 2011). However, there are relatively few studies about how habitat structure might influence the relationships between morphology and ecology (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of different substrates on the sprint performance of lizards

Tulli

Abdala

Cruz

2012

SUMMARYThe variation in substrate structure is one of the most important determinants of the locomotor abilities of lizards. Lizards are found across a range of habitats, from large rocks to loose sand, each of them with conflicting mechanical demands on locomotion. We examined the relationships among sprint speed, morphology and different types of substrate surfaces in species of lizards that exploit different structural habitats (arboreal, saxicolous, terrestrial and arenicolous) in a phylogenetic context. Our main goals were to assess which processes drive variability in morphology (i.e. phylogeny or adaptation to habitat) in order to understand how substrate structure affects sprint speed in species occupying different habitats and to determine the relationship between morphology and performance. Liolaemini lizards show that most morphological traits are constrained by phylogeny, particularly toe3, the femur and foot. All ecological groups showed significant differences on rocky surfaces. Surprisingly, no ecological group performed better on the surface resembling its own habitat. Moreover, all groups exhibited significant differences in sprint speed among the three different types of experimental substrates and showed the best performance on sand, with the exception of the arboreal group. Despite the fact that species use different types of habitats, the highly conservative morphology of Liolaemini species and the similar levels of performance on different types of substrates suggest that they confer to the ʻjack of all trades and master of noneʼ principle.Supplementary material available online at http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/full/215/5/774/DC1 Key words: substrate structure, performance, limb morphology, speed, lizard. THE JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY 775Sprint performance of lizards known about how substrate structure affects speed in species that use different microhabitats, such as climbing and terrestrial lizards (Irschick et al., 1997;Zani, 2000;Higham and Russell, 2010;Tulli et al., 2011a).The focal subjects of our study are Liolaemini lizards, which are members of one of the most diverse and species-rich lizard clades of the world Quinteros et al., 2008;Lobo et al., 2010; Breitman et al., 2011). Liolaemini lizards occur in South America, from central Perú to Tierra del Fuego and from the Pacific to Atlantic coasts, across mostly deserts and highelevation habitats (Cei, 1986). The line of this clade dates from 12.6 to 18 million years ago (Schulte et al., 2000;Albino, 2011). Some species show specialized morphology, for example the sanddweller species of the Liolaemus wiegmannii group (Etheridge, 2000), whereas some others exhibit signs of isolation after the last glacial period (Breitman et al., 2011). Thus, these species show a diversity in habitat usage, including generalized terrestrial as well as habitat specialists living on arboreal substrates, rock boulders (using the crevices or slipping underneath them) or sand (Halloy et al., 1998;Schulte et al., 2004;Tulli et al., 2009;Tul...