128899 - Extreme plasticity in reproductive biology of an oviparous lizard.pdf (419.24 kB)
Extreme plasticity in reproductive biology of an oviparous lizard
journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-19, 22:04 authored by Olsson, M, Loeb, L, Lindsay, W, Erik WapstraErik Wapstra, Luisa FitzpatrickLuisa Fitzpatrick, Shine, REcology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Most oviparous squamate reptiles lay their eggs when embryos have completed less than one-third of development, with the remaining two-thirds spent in an external nest. Even when females facultatively retain eggs in dry or cold conditions, such retention generally causes only a minor (<10%) decrease in subsequent incubation periods. In contrast, we found that female sand lizards (Lacerta agilis) from an experimentally founded field population (established ca. 20 years ago on the southwest coast of Sweden) exhibited wide variation in incubation periods even when the eggs were kept at standard (25°C) conditions. Females that retained eggs in utero for longer based on the delay between capture and oviposition produced eggs that hatched sooner. In the extreme case, eggs hatched after only 55% of the "normal" incubation period. Although the proximate mechanisms underlying this flexibility remain unclear, our results from this first full field season at the new study site show that females within a single cold-climate population of lizards can span a substantial proportion of the continuum from "normal" oviparity to viviparity.
Funding
Australian Research Council
History
Publication title
Ecology and EvolutionVolume
8Issue
13Pagination
6384-6389ISSN
2045-7758Department/School
School of Natural SciencesPublisher
John Wiley & Sons LtdPlace of publication
United KingdomRights statement
Copyright 2018 the authors. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Repository Status
- Open