Population origin, maternal effects, and hydric conditions during incubation determine embryonic and offspring survival in a desert-dwelling lizard

Wang, Yang; Li, Shuran; Pei, Meng-Yuan; Wu, Danyang; Du, Wei‐Guo

doi:10.1007/s00442-021-04932-9

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Association of key life history traits, such as body size, with environmental factors shape the adaptation of species to local environments (e.g., Blackburn et al, 1999;Freckleton et al, 2003;Morrison and Hero, 2003;Pincheira-Donoso and Tregenza, 2011;Meiri et al, 2013;Volynchik, 2014;Hille and Cooper, 2015;Laiolo and Obeso 2015;Lack et al, 2016Meiri et al, 2020Velasco et al, 2020;Wang et al, 2021;Deme et al, 2022a;Giovanna et al, 2022;Szymkowiak and Schmidt, 2022). Indeed, we found that geographical patterns of female body size were influenced by the coupling effects of the seasonal and annual changes in the climatic conditions along altitudinal gradients, suggesting a possible adaptation of E. argus lizards to the changing environmental conditions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Eremias argus lizard populations occupying high altitudes across China may experience unique local climatic conditions and unpredictable seasonal changes (Deme et al, 2022a), which may be different for other lizards globally, because of regional differences in climatic conditions (see, Sinervo et al, 2010;Meiri et al, 2013;Meiri, 2018). As studies have suggested that lizard populations across China that occupy unfavourable environments, which may reduce lizards' body size (Liang et al, 2021;Wang et al, 2021), we set out to ask (i) whether E. argus follow a reverse Bergmann's cline across altitudes to physiologically adapt to local environmental changes? (ii) if variation in resource availability, climate, and seasonality across altitudes will explain the patterns of lizards' body sizes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Living in difficult situations: Lizards living in high altitudes have smaller body sizes due to extreme climatic conditions and limited resources

Deme

Liang

Okoro

et al. 2022

Preprint

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The evolution of body size, both within and between species, has been long predicted to be influenced by multifarious environmental factors. However, the specific drivers of body size variation have remained difficult to understand because of the wide range of proximate factors that consistently covary with ectotherm body sizes across populations with varying local environmental conditions. Here, we used a widely distributed lizard (Eremias argus) collected from different populations situated across China to assess how climatic conditions and/or available resources at different altitudes shape the geographical patterns of lizard body size across populations. We used body size data from locations differing in altitudes across China to construct linear mixed models to test the relationship between lizard body size and ecological and climate conditions across altitudes. Lizard populations showed significant differences in body size across altitudes. Furthermore, we found that variation in body size among populations was also explained by climatic and seasonal changes along the altitudinal gradient. Specifically, body size decreased with colder and drier environmental conditions at high altitudes, resulting in a reversal of Bergmann’s rule. Limited resources at high altitudes, as measured by net primary productivity, may also constrain body size. Therefore, our study demonstrates that the intraspecific variation in female lizards’ body size may be strongly influenced by multifarious local environments as adaptive plasticity for female organisms to possibly maximise reproductive ecology along geographic clines.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Living in difficult situations: Lizards living in high altitudes have smaller body sizes due to extreme climatic conditions and limited resources

Deme

Liang

Okoro

et al. 2022

Preprint

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“…During the LGM, the temperature decreased; thus, the contribution of different quarters was different before the LGM. Considering the effect of hydric conditions on embryonic and offspring survival of lizards [93], it is reasonable to predict the significant role of precipitation in different quarters.…”

Section: Out Of Inner Mongolia: the Spatial-temporal Evolution Of E A...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Range-Wide Phylogeography and Ecological Niche Modeling Provide Insights into the Evolutionary History of the Mongolian Racerunner (Eremias argus) in Northeast Asia

Tian,

Xu,

Chen

et al. 2024

Animals

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The Mongolian racerunner, Eremias argus, is a small lizard endemic to Northeast Asia that can serve as an excellent model for investigating how geography and past climate change have jointly influenced the evolution of biodiversity in this region. To elucidate the processes underlying its diversification and demography, we reconstructed the range-wide phylogeographic pattern and evolutionary trajectory, using phylogenetic, population genetic, landscape genetic, Bayesian phylogeographic reconstruction and ecological niche modeling approaches. Phylogenetic analyses of the mtDNA cyt b gene revealed eight lineages that were unbounded by geographic region. The genetic structure of E. argus was mainly determined by geographic distance. Divergence dating indicated that E. argus and E. brenchleyi diverged during the Mid-Pliocene Warm Period. E. argus was estimated to have coalesced at~0.4351 Ma (Marine Isotope Stage 19). Bayesian phylogeographic diffusion analysis revealed out-of-Inner Mongolia and rapid colonization events from the end of the Last Interglacial to the Last Glacial Maximum, which is consistent with the expanded suitable range of the Last Glacial Maximum. Pre-Last Glacial Maximum growth of population is presented for most lineages of E. argus. The Glacial Maximum contraction model and the previous multiple glacial refugia hypotheses are rejected. This may be due to an increase in the amount of climatically favorable habitats in Northeast Asia. Furthermore, E. argus barbouri most likely represents an invalid taxon. The present study is the first to report a range-wide phylogeography of reptiles over such a large region in Northeast Asia. Our results make a significant contribution towards understanding the biogeography of the entire Northeast Asia.

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“…Thus, our study focused on female lizards because we wanted to understand the potential physiological responses of female lizards' body size to spatial and temporal climatic and ecological factors. Female Eremias argus lizards occupying high altitudes across China may experience unique local climatic conditions and unpredictable seasonal changes, which may be different for other lizards globally, because of regional differences in climatic conditions in China (see Liang et al, 2021 ; Wang et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Female lizards (Eremias argus) reverse Bergmann's rule across altitude

Deme,

Liang,

Okoro

et al. 2023

Ecology and Evolution

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The evolution of body size within and among species is predicted to be influenced by multifarious environmental factors. However, the specific drivers of body size variation have remained difficult to understand because of the wide range of proximate factors that covary with ectotherm body sizes across populations with varying local environmental conditions. Here, we used female Eremias argus lizards collected from different populations across their wide range in China, and constructed linear mixed models to assess how climatic conditions and/or available resources at different altitudes shape the geographical patterns of lizard body size across altitude. Lizard populations showed significant differences in body size across altitudes. Furthermore, we found that climatic and seasonal changes along the altitudinal gradient also explained variations in body size among populations. Specifically, body size decreased with colder and drier environmental conditions at high altitudes, reversing Bergmann's rule. Limited resources at high altitudes, measured by the low vegetative index, may also constrain body size. Therefore, our study demonstrates that multifarious environmental factors could strongly influence the intraspecific variation in organisms' body size.

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Population origin, maternal effects, and hydric conditions during incubation determine embryonic and offspring survival in a desert-dwelling lizard

Cited by 6 publications

References 59 publications

Living in difficult situations: Lizards living in high altitudes have smaller body sizes due to extreme climatic conditions and limited resources

Living in difficult situations: Lizards living in high altitudes have smaller body sizes due to extreme climatic conditions and limited resources

Range-Wide Phylogeography and Ecological Niche Modeling Provide Insights into the Evolutionary History of the Mongolian Racerunner (Eremias argus) in Northeast Asia

Female lizards (Eremias argus) reverse Bergmann's rule across altitude

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