Seasonal Variation in the Thermoregulation Pattern of an Insular Agamid Lizard

Ectotherms, including lizards, rely on behavioral thermoregulation to maintain their body temperature within an optimal range. The benign climate of islands is expected to favor the thermoregulation efficiency of reptiles throughout their activity period. In this study, we investigated the seasonal...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Animals (Basel) 2023-10, Vol.13 (20), p.3195
Main Authors: Karameta, Emmanouela, Gavriilidi, Ioanna, Sfenthourakis, Spyros, Pafilis, Panayiotis
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agamidae
Animals
Autumn
Behavior
Body temperature
Environmental conditions
Habitats
Islands
Males
Metabolism
Reptiles & amphibians
Seasonal variations
seasonality
Thermogenesis
thermoregulation
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Summary:Ectotherms, including lizards, rely on behavioral thermoregulation to maintain their body temperature within an optimal range. The benign climate of islands is expected to favor the thermoregulation efficiency of reptiles throughout their activity period. In this study, we investigated the seasonal variation in thermoregulation in an insular population of the roughtail rock agama (Laudakia stellio) on Naxos Island, Greece. We measured body, operative, and preferred temperatures across three seasons (spring, summer, and autumn), and we evaluated the effectiveness of thermoregulation, using the Hertz index (E). Our results revealed that the effectiveness of thermoregulation was significantly influenced by seasonality. E was quite high in summer (0.97) and spring (0.92), and lowest in autumn (0.81). Accordingly, the quality of the thermal environment was significantly low during autumn, and maximum during summer. However, despite the environmental temperature fluctuations, lizards exhibited remarkable stability in body temperatures. They also adjusted their preferred temperatures seasonally and doubled the thermal niche breadth they occupied during summer, thus enhancing thermoregulation efficiency. Whether or not these adjustments are plastic or fixed local adaptations remains to be explored in further research across multiple years and seasons, including additional insular populations.
ISSN:2076-2615
2076-2615
DOI:10.3390/ani13203195