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Animals obtain environmental information using different sensory modalities, and sensory organ size allows inferences concerning the importance of these modalities, which depend on numerous evolutionary or ecological factors. Here, we test whether sex, different evolutionary processes and climatic factors explain chemical and visual sensory organ size in South American Liolaemus lizards as a model. We obtained snout volume (vomeronasal organ proxy), eye surface area, and counted the number of secretory precloacal pores in males and females of 61 species. For evolutionary processes, we tested phylogenetic signal, and different evolutionary models; as well as compared evolutionary rate changes on these traits. We also explored different climatic factors associated with changes in these traits. Our results showed the majority of studied traits had low phylogenetic signal and fit a variety of models. Number of precloacal pores showed greater phylogenetic signal in both sexes and best fit a model of evolution with differential rate transitions model, and have a more complex evolution in females versus males. In males, snout volume correlated positively with precipitation, solar radiation and temperature; while male eye surface area was negatively associated with precipitation, solar radiation and wind speed. However, females appear to be more influenced by intrinsic evolutionary processes whereas males were more influenced by climatic factors. This is the first study exploring the evolution of female precloacal pores in squamates reptiles in general and provides evidence that sex and sensory modality type are strong predictive factors of sensory organ size.

Animals employ a wide variety of communication tactics that rely on distinct sensory modalities. Lizards are characterized by their heightened dependence on chemical and visual communication. Some authors have proposed that a reduced number of chemical secretory pores may be associated with an increased visual dependence in some species. Here, we study two species of Liolaemus lizards with different chemical features to compare their visual and chemical communication. The first species, L. coeruleus, does not have precloacal pores in either sex, while L. albiceps has precloacal pores in both sexes. We expect that L. coeruleus will principally adhere to the visual modality, while L. albiceps will show greater chemical responses. We filmed the lizard’s response to different chemical and visual stimuli. In the trials, both species demonstrated chemical self-recognition, L. albiceps exhibited less total time in motion but more behavioural displays in the presence of conspecific scents, suggesting conspecific chemical recognition too. On the other hand, visuals results showed that L. coeruleus reacted more to the presence of conspecifics than L. albiceps. These observations suggest that L. coeruleus relies more on visual signalization, while L. albiceps has a greater dependence on chemical communication. Our results may indicate a correspondence between precloacal secretions and the response to these by conspecifics in both species studied.

Physiological performance in lizards may be affected by climate across latitudinal or altitudinal gradients. In the coastal dune barriers in central-eastern Argentina, the annual maximum environmental temperature decreases up to 2°C from low to high latitudes, while the mean relative humidity of the air decreases from 50% to 25%. Liolaemus multimaculatus, a lizard in the family Liolaemidae, is restricted to these coastal dunes. We investigated the locomotor performance of the species at 6 different sites distributed throughout its range in these dune barriers. We inquired whether locomotor performance metrics were sensitive to the thermal regime attributable to latitude. The thermal performance breadth increased from 7% to 82% with latitude, due to a decrease in its critical thermal minimum of up to 5°C at higher latitudes. Lizards from high latitude sites showed a thermal optimum, that is, the body temperature at which maximum speed is achieved, up to 4°C lower than that of lizards from the low latitude. At relatively low temperatures, the maximum running speed of high-latitude individuals was faster than that of low-latitude ones. Thermal parameters of locomotor performance were labile, decreasing as a function of latitude. These results show populations of L. multimaculatus adjust thermal physiology to cope with local climatic variations. This suggests that thermal sensitivity responds to the magnitude of latitudinal fluctuations in environmental temperature.

Temperature is crucial for reptiles, also during embryonic development, particularly for species with temperature-dependent sex determination. Under natural conditions, Broad-snouted caiman (Caiman latirostris) eggs are influenced by thermal changes in the interior of the nest related to the external environmental temperature. As nests are subject to variations in temperature and most lab studies on crocodilian incubation have been carried out at constant temperatures, we were interested in determining how temperature fluctuations may affect the development of caiman embryos. We investigated the effects of incubation at constant temperatures (31°C, 32°C, and 33°C) and fluctuating temperatures (31 ± 2, 32 ± 1, and 32 ± 2°C) on the following aspects: incubation period duration, hatching success, sex ratio, total length, and body mass of C. latirostris hatchlings. Eggs incubated at 31°C produced 100% females, those at 32°C produced 71.6% females (however, the sex ratio was nest related), and at 33°C produced 100% males. We found a masculinizing effect when incubation was at 31 ± 2°C compared with a constant 31°C; and temperature fluctuations at 32°C (32 ± 1 and 32 ± 2°C) had a negative effect on hatchlings size and mass, and hatching success compared with constant incubation temperatures of 32°C and 33°C. Finally, the effect of temperature variation during the incubation period on sex ratio, hatching success, and phenotype depends on the mean temperature, as the fluctuation around 31°C affected the sex ratios and incubation period, and the fluctuation around 32°C affected hatchling success and size.

Some lizard species modulate the use of a retreat site based on the presence of scents from other individuals, behavior that requires scent recognition. Here, we investigated if two congeneric and syntopic lizards (adults of Liolaemus coeruleus and juveniles of L. ceii, which can be found sharing retreat sites in the wild) discriminate scents from each other during the pre-hibernation period. If the presence of heterospecific scents modulates sharing retreat sites, species would discriminate each other’s scents. Lizards were individually exposed to four treatments, which were enclosures with scents of (1) from the focal individual (own); (2) a conspecific of the same sex as the focal lizard; (3) a heterospecific of the same sex as the focal lizard; and (4) a control (i.e., enclosure with a clean substrate). Our results suggest that there is no heterospecific recognition. This finding was not due to an inability to chemo-assess scents, since both species exhibited self-recognition (recognition of their own scents) and juveniles of L. ceii also showed conspecific recognition. Although it might be advantageous for species to share retreat sites, chemical recognition of heterospecific scents does not modulate this behavior in these syntopic species. Algunas especies de lagartos modulan el uso de un sitio de retiro basados en la presencia de rastros de olores de otros individuos presentes en el sitio, comportamiento que requiere reconocimiento de estos rastros de olores. En este trabajo, investigamos dos lagartos cogenéricos y sintópicos (adultos de Liolaemus coeruleus y juveniles de L. ceii, los cuales pueden ser encontrados en la naturaleza compartiendo sitios de retiro), si discriminan los rastros de olores de cada uno de ellos durante el periodo pre-invernal. Si la presencia de rastros de olores heteroespecíficos modula el compartir sitios de retiro, ambas especies discriminarían los rastros de olores entre sí. Los lagartos fueron expuestos individualmente a cuatro tratamientos, los cuales fueron los recintos con diferentes olores de: (1) propio, del individuo focal; (2) conespecífico del mismo sexo que el lagarto focal; (3) heteroespecífico del mismo sexo que el focal y (4) control, i.e., un recinto con substrato limpio. Nuestros resultados sugieren que no habría presencia de reconocimiento químico heteroespecífico, lo cual, no es consecuencia de una incapacidad para evaluar rastros químicos, puesto que ambas especies exhibieron auto reconocimiento (reconocimiento de sus rastros de olores propios) y los juveniles de L. ceii además exhibieron reconocimiento de sus conespecíficos. A pesar de que estas especies puedan beneficiarse de compartir sitios de refugio, aparentemente, el reconocimiento químico de los rastros de heterospecíficos, no modularía el sitio de refugio compartido por estas especies sintópicas. Fil: Ruiz Monachesi, Mario Ricardo. Universidad Nacional de Salta; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales. Museo de Ciencias Naturales. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA; Argentina Fil: Valdecantos, Maria Soledad. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales. Museo de Ciencias Naturales. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA; Argentina Fil: Lobo Gaviola, Fernando Jose. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales. Museo de Ciencias Naturales. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA; Argentina Fil: Cruz, Felix Benjamin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones En Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Subsede San Martín de Los Andes-inibioma | Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones En Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Subsede San Martín de Los Andes-inibioma.; Argentina Fil: Labra, Antonieta. University of Oslo; Noruega

Body temperature affects various aspects of ectotherm biology. Reptiles, as ectotherms, gain and control their temperature mainly through behavioural adjustments, although some body traits may also be advantageous. According to the thermal melanism hypothesis (TMH) dark colour may be thermally advantageous in cold environments. Additionally, differences in thermoregulatory capacity may also affect performance. We analysed the role of melanism in the thermoregulation and sprint speed performance of three species of Liolaemus lizards from Argentinean Patagonia. Liolaemus shitan, L. elongatus and L. gununakuna are phylogenetically close, with similar body sizes and life history traits, but differ in their melanic colouration, L. shitan being the darkest and L. gununakuna the lightest species. We estimated sprint speed performance curves and heating rates, and recorded final body temperature and sprint speed achieved after a fixed heating time, from two different initial body temperatures, and with and without movement restriction. Performance curves were similar for all the species, but for L. gununakuna the curve was more flattened. Darker species showed faster heating rates, ran faster after fixed heating trials at the lowest temperature, and reached higher body temperatures than L. gununakuna, but this was compensated for by behavioural adjustments of the lighter lizards. Similarity of sprint speed performance may be due to the conservative nature of this character in these species, while variation in heating ability, particularly when starting from low temperatures, may reflect plasticity in this trait. The latter provides support for the TMH in these lizards, as melanism helps them increase their body temperature. This may be especially advantageous at the beginning of the day or on cloudy days, when temperatures are lower. Fil: Moreno Azócar, Débora Lina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina Fil: Arcos, Nayan Andaluz. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche; Argentina Fil: Perotti, Maria Gabriela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina Fil: Cruz, Felix Benjamin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina

The interaction between organisms and their environment is central in functional morphology. Differences in habitat usage may imply divergent morphology of locomotor systems; thus, detecting which morphological traits are conservative across lineages and which ones vary under environmental pressure is important in evolutionary studies. We studied internal and external morphology in 28 species of Neotropical anurans. Our aim was to determine if internal morphology (muscle and tendons) shows lower phylogenetic signal than external morphology. In addition, we wanted to know if morphology varies in relation to the habitat use and if there are different functional groups. We found differences in the degree of phylogenetic signal on the groups of traits. Interestingly, postaxial regions of the forelimb are evolutionarily more labile than the preaxial regions. Phylomorphospace plots show that arboreal (jumpers and graspers) and swimmer frogs cluster based on length of fingers and the lack of sesamoid, also reflected by the use of habitat. These functional clusters are also related to phylogeny. Sesamoid and flexor plate dimensions together with digit tendons showed to be important to discriminate functional groups as well as use of habitat classification. Our results allow us to identify a ?grasping syndrome? in the hand of these frogs, where palmar sesamoid and flexor plate are absent and a third metacarpal with a bony knob are typical. Thus, a lighter skeleton, long fingers and a prensile hand may be key for arboreality. Fil: De Oliveira Lagôa, Silvia. Universidad Nacional de Asunción; Paraguay Fil: Cruz, Felix Benjamin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina Fil: Moreno Azócar, Débora Lina. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche; Argentina Fil: Lavilla, Esteban Orlando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico - Tucumán. Unidad Ejecutora Lillo; Argentina Fil: Abdala, Virginia Sara Luz. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical; Argentina

Ectotherms are vulnerable to climate change, given their dependence on temperature, and amphibians are particularly interesting because of their complex life cycle. Tadpoles may regulate their body temperature by using suitable thermal microhabitats. Thus, their physiological responses are the result of adjustment to the local thermal limits experienced in their ponds. We studied three anuran tadpole species present in Argentina and Chile: Pleurodema thaul and Pleurodema bufoninum that are seasonal and have broad geographic ranges, and Batrachyla taeniata, a geographically restricted species with overwintering tadpoles. Species with restricted distribution are more susceptible to climate change than species with broader distribution that may cope with potential climatic changes in the environments in which they occur. We aim to test whether these species can buffer the potential effects of climate warming. We used ecological niche models and the outcomes of their thermal attributes (critical thermal limits, optimal temperature, and locomotor performance breadth) as empirical evidence of their capacity. We found that Pleurodema species show broader performance curves, related to their occurrence, while the geographically restricted B. taeniata shows a narrower thermal breadth, but is faster in warmer conditions. The modeled distributions and empirical physiological results suggest no severe threats for these three anurans. However, the risk level is increasing and a retraction of their distribution range might be possible for Pleurodema species, and some local population extinctions may happen, particularly for the narrowly distributed B. taeniata. Fil: Perotti, Maria Gabriela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina Fil: Bonino, Marcelo Fabián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina Fil: Ferraro, Daiana Paola. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto Nacional de Limnología. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto Nacional de Limnología; Argentina Fil: Cruz, Felix Benjamin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina

Small lizards can accommodate to constraints imposed by temporal changes in ambient temperature through a combination of adaptive evolution and behavioral and physiological plasticity. Thermal physiology plasticity may compensate for climate variation and favor performance while minimizing behavioral costs in sub-optimal conditions. The Tandilia´s lizard, Liolaemus tandiliensis, occurs in an isolated mountain range of the Argentinean temperate Pampas. In this study, we compared the thermal biology of L. tandiliensis between late spring (December) and mid-summer (February). The habitats? thermal quality was lower in late spring than in midsummer. The lizard´s field-body temperature (Tb) was 2?3 °C higher than the operative temperature (Te). Overall, the mean preferred temperature (Tsel) was 37.4 °C [preferred range (Tset): 36.2?38.7 °C], and wassimilar to other Liolaemus species. The Tset and Tsel of females in late spring were 1.8 °C lower than in midsummer. In the case of males, the Tsel did not vary among seasons, while the Tset had a difference of 2.5 °C between seasons. Adults were moderate thermoregulators, but females were more efficient only in late spring (Emales = 0.69; Efemales = 0.58), compared to mid-summer (Emales = 0.68; Efemales = 0.50). Juveniles did not show temporal differences in temperature preferences and had a relatively higher efficiency in late spring (E = 0.38) compared to mid-summer (E=0.28). An increased proportion of juveniles and adults shifted their Tb near to the Tset in late spring respect to mid-summer. The adults also matched their preferred temperatures to their current body temperature. These results suggest that seasonal shifts in the thermoregulatory parameters of L. tandiliensis may improve their thermoregulatory efficiency. Although temporal variation in ambient temperatures might influence the thermal biology of the studied lizards, other factors such as changes in the reproductive status may have also interfered. Fil: Stellatelli, Oscar Aníbal. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Villalba, Agustina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biología; Argentina Fil: Block, Carolina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Vega, Laura Estela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Dajil, Juan Esteban. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Cruz, Felix Benjamin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina

Postural adjustments and microhabitat selection are two behavioral mechanisms that lizards extensively use to regulate their body temperatures. The Bogert effect occurs when behavioral thermoregulation buffers potential changes in body temperatures of congeneric organisms due to environmental variation, in turn precluding physiological evolution. We compared field body temperatures (Tb) and behavioral thermoregulation traits between two Liolaemus lizards: the saxicolous Liolaemus tandiliensis and the arenicolous Liolaemus wiegmannii. These species are spatially segregated in two thermally contrasting environments from the SE of the temperate Pampas of Argentina. During summer, the mean operative temperature (Te) of the coastal sand dunes occupied by L. wiegmannii was 9 ºC higher than that of the Tandilia mountains inhabited by L. tandiliensis. Despite the contrasting thermal conditions of both habitats, the mean Tb of L. tandiliensis (34.72 °C) was similar to that of L. wiegmannii (35.01 °C). The behavioral thermoregulation mechanisms varied considerably between both species. Liolaemus tandiliensis combined static body posture with displacements towards sunlit areas. In contrast, L. wiegmannii combined elevated and prostrated body postures with movements towards full and filtered sun patches. Environmental gradients offer diverse challenges impelling lizards to find different behavioral thermoregulation adaptations in order to partially cope with environmental constraints. This occurs in many species of Liolaemus that are thermoregulatory efficient despite of the climatic adversities. In this study, two species of Liolaemus used different postural and microhabitat path-selection strategies according to climate, allowing them to buffer changes in Tb, thus suggesting that the Bogert effect may be occurring in these two species. Fil: Stellatelli, Oscar Aníbal. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencia Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Block, Carolina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencia Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Villalba, Agustina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina Fil: Vega, Laura Estela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencia Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Dajil, Juan Esteban. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencia Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Cruz, Felix Benjamin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina

Behavioral and physiological adaptive responses of animals facing chronic exposure to a single stressor may allow them to overcome its negative effects for future exposures to similar stressful situations. At chemical level, the GABAA /benzodiazepine complex is considered one of the main receptor systems involved in the modulation of stress-induced responses. Here, we describe the behavioral responses of two different lizard species, Liolaemus koslowskyi and Cnemidophorus tergolaevigatus exposed to three potential chronic stressful treatments: (a) high temperature, (b) forced swimming, and (c) simulated predator. Additionally, we aimed to determine in those lizards whether the central-type benzodiazepine receptor (CBR; an allosteric modulator site of the GABAA receptor) is related to adaptive responses to those stressful stimulations. Our results revealed that the simulated predator was the stress condition that showed the largest difference in behavioral responses between the two species, resembling previously described strategies in nature. The basal affinity of CBRs (obtained from undisturbed animals) showed differences between both species, and the simulated predator was the only stressor that altered the affinity of CBRs. L. koslowskyi CBRs showed a decreased receptor affinity, whereas C. tergolaevigatus showed an increased receptor affinity in comparison to their respective control groups. We show for the first time the effects of different types of stressors upon behavioral responses and CBR biochemical parameters in two lizard species. Our findings suggest a potential GABA/benzodiazepine role in the ability of lizards to cope with a repeated exposure to a stressful (e.g., predator) condition.

Thermoregulation in ectotherms may be modulated by climatic variability across geographic gradients. Environmental temperature varies along latitudinal clines resulting in heterogeneous thermal resource availability, which generally induces ectotherms to use compensatory mechanisms to thermoregulate. Lizards can accommodate to ambient temperature changes through a combination of adaptive evolution and behavioral and physiological plasticity. We studied the thermal ecology of the endangered endemic lizard Liolaemus multimaculatus at six different sites distributed from the northern to southern areas of the distribution (700 km) in the Atlantic dune barriers of Argentina, and even including the borders areas of the distribution range. Environmental temperatures and relative humidity showed a strong contrast between northern and southern limits of the distribution range. The northern localities had operative temperatures (Te) above the range of preferred temperatures (Tset), instead, the southern localities had large proportion of Tes within the Tset. Although these different climatic conditions may constrain the thermal biology of L. multimaculatus, individuals from all localities maintained relatively similar field body temperatures (XTb = 34.07 ± 3.02 °C), suggesting that this parameter is conservative. Thermal preference partially reflected latitudinal temperature gradient, since lizards from the two southernmost localities showed the lowest Tsel and Tset. Thermoregulatory efficiency differed among localities, since E values in the northern localities (E = 0.53–0.69) showed less variability than those of southern localities (E = 0.14–0.67). Although L. multimaculatus employed a strategy of having a conservative Tb and being able to acclimatize the thermal preference to copes with latitudinal changes in the thermal environment, other local factors, such as ecological interactions, may also impose limitations to thermoregulation and this may interfered in the interpretation of results at wider spatial scale. Fil: Stellatelli, Oscar Aníbal. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Vega, Laura Estela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Block, Carolina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Rocca, Camila. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Bellagamba, Patricio Juan. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Municipalidad de General Pueyrredon; Argentina Fil: Cruz, Felix Benjamin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina

In living organisms with sexual reproduction, the presence of sexual size dimorphism (SSD) is common. The main explanations for this phenomenon are based on sexual selection or the fecundity advantage hypothesis (natural selection). Here, we tested Rensch´s rule in species of the viviparous lizard genus Phymaturus; additionally, we tested if there is a pattern of sexual size dimorphism or if it depends upon other morphological traits. We found no evidence for Rensch´s rule in these lizards. After testing for multiple or single regime evolutionary models, we found that body size most likely evolved under multi-regime Ornstein-Uhlenbeck evolutionary model; the same was observed for abdomen width in females, a fecundity advantage hypothesis trait. For species with female biased SSD there is a positive relationship between snout-vent length and width of the belly, supporting the fecundity advantage hypothesis. Additionally, the relationship between brood size and brood mass with body size and body mass (respectively) were positive giving strength to the fecundity advantage hypothesis. Finally, our results show males did not show a clear pattern in relation to the sexual selection hypothesis, probably because sexual selection is a complex aspect that involves behavior and color. On the other hand, female body size and reproductive output are related to mean seasonal air temperature and its combination with mean annual air temperature in an evolutionary fashion framework, such as fecundity advantage hypothesis in these lizards. Fil: Valdecantos, Maria Soledad. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales. Museo de Ciencias Naturales. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA; Argentina Fil: Lobo Gaviola, Fernando Jose. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales. Museo de Ciencias Naturales. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA; Argentina Fil: Perotti, Maria Gabriela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina Fil: Moreno Azócar, Débora Lina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina Fil: Cruz, Felix Benjamin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina

Most of the literature on temperature–organism interactions rely on mean temperature (mostly air), disregarding the real complexity of this variable. There is a growing consensus about the importance of considering the temperature fluctuations as a mechanism improving organism's performance. Tadpoles are small body size ectotherm organisms that behave isothermally with their environment. As such, are good models for studying their thermal biology relative to their immediate environment. We studied six anuran tadpole species in North Patagonia, Alsodes gargola, Hylorina sylvatica, Batrachyla taeniata, Pleurodema thaul, P. bufoninum and Rhinella spinulosa, distributed in a West-East altitudinal cline with different environments and thermal conditions. We evaluated the relationship between thermal descriptors at a local scale and the thermal biology patterns of these temperate tadpoles. We estimated thermal tolerance limits and thermal sensitivity of locomotion of each species. The different aquatic environments showed important differences in local thermal conditions, associated with observed differences in the thermal traits in these tadpoles. Species exposed to lower temperature fluctuations and lower environmental mean temperatures showed lower swimming optimal temperatures and narrower thermal tolerance ranges. We found greater variability in the upper than in the lower critical limits in these Patagonian anuran tadpoles. Minimum critical temperatures were close to freezing temperature, possibly in detriment of their tolerance to high temperatures. Overall, our results suggest that these species are adapted to low temperatures. Finally, warming tolerances and predicted thermal safety margins, show that none of the studied species appear to be under thermal stress that may compromise their survival at the present time or in the near future, under a moderate climate change scenario.

Animal habitat-use patterns cannot be isolated from scale issues. Consequently, multi-scale studies provide a complete characterization of ecological patterns that can further explain the observed variation. Liolaemus constitutes the world's second most speciose lizard genus. In this study, we assessed the relationships between home range size and environmental variables at 3 different spatial scales. The study at a local and regional scale was focused on the habitat specialist Liolaemus multimaculatus. The lizard's home range was calculated using the minimum convex polygon method in populations from grassland sites of the coastal sand dunes of the Argentinean Pampas under 2 different conditions, with or without forestations of Acacia longifolia. On the other hand, at a geographical scale we considered the evolutionary implications of 20 species of Liolaemus. Home range size, phylogeny, ecological, environmental, and climatic data were obtained from the literature and remote sensing. L. multimaculatus home range varied from 12.66 to 570.00 m. Regionally, this species had smaller home ranges in forested habitats (X: 94.02m2) compared with the non-forested sites (X: 219.78m2). Habitat structure, vegetation types, and food availability would explain the space use at finer scales. When the 20 species of Liolaemus were considered, high mean air temperature and broad thermal amplitudes showed an inverse relationship with home range size. Neither net primary productivity nor phylogeny was good predictors for home range variation at geographical scale. This study highlights the scale dependence of the explicative capability of a set of environmental and intrinsic variables on home range patterns. Fil: Stellatelli, Oscar Aníbal. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Block, Carolina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Moreno Azócar, Débora Lina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina Fil: Vega, Laura Estela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Isacch, Juan Pablo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Cruz, Felix Benjamin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina

Ectothermic vertebrates are sensitive to thermal fluctuations in the environments where they occur. To buffer these fluctuations, ectotherms use different strategies, including the integument, which is a barrier that minimizes temperature exchange between the inner body and the surrounding air. In lizards, this barrier is constituted by keratinized scales of variable size, shape and texture, and its main function is protection, water loss avoidance and thermoregulation. The size of scales in lizards has been proposed to vary in relation to climatic gradients; however, it has also been observed that in some groups of Iguanian lizards it could be related to phylogeny. Thus, here, we studied the area and number of scales (dorsal and ventral) of 60 species of Liolaemus lizards distributed in a broad latitudinal and altitudinal gradient to determine the nature of the variation of the scales with climate, and found that the number and size of scales are related to climatic variables, such as temperature and geographical variables as altitude. The evolutionary process that best explained how these morphological variables evolved was the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck model. The number of scales seemed to be related to common ancestry, whereas dorsal and ventral scale areas seemed to vary as a consequence of ecological traits. In fact, the ventral area is less exposed to climate conditions such as ultraviolet radiation or wind and is, thus, under less pressure to change in response to alterations in external conditions. It is possible that scale ornamentation, such as keels and granulosity, may bring some more information in this regard.

Global climate change affects the distributions of ectotherms and may be the cause of several conservation problems, such as great displacement of climatic suitable spaces for species and, consequently, important reductions of the extent of liveable places, threatening the existence of many of them. Species exposure (and hence vulnerability) to global climate change is linked to features of their climatic niches (such as the relative position of the inhabited localities of each species in the climatic space), and therefore to characteristics of their geographic ranges (such as the extent of the distributions or altitudinal range inhabited by the species). In order to analyze the pattern of response of Argentine reptiles to global climate change, we ran phylogenetic generalized least squares models using species exposure to global climate change as a response variable, and (i) niche properties (breadth and position of the species in the climate space) and (ii) general features of the distribution of species (maximum latitude, altitudinal range, maximum elevation, distributional range and proximity to the most important dispersal barrier) as predictors. Our results suggest that the best way to explain climate change exposure is by combining breadth and position of climatic niche of the species or combining geographic features that are indicators of both niche characteristics. Our best model shows that in our study area, species with the narrowest distributional ranges that also inhabit the highest elevations are the most exposed to the effects of global climate change. In this sense, reptile species from Yungas, Puna and Andes ecoregions could be especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change. We believe that these types of models may represent an interesting tool for determining species and places particularly threatened by the effects of global climate change, which should be strongly considered in conservation planning.

One of the fundamental goals in macroecology is to understand the relationship among species’ geographic ranges, ecophysiology, and climate; however, the mechanisms underlying the distributional geographic patterns observed remain unknown for most organisms. In the case of ectotherms this is particularly important because the knowledge of these interactions may provide a robust framework for predicting the potential consequences of climate change in these organisms. Here we studied the relationship of thermal sensitivity and thermal tolerance in Patagonian lizards and their geographic ranges, proposing that species with wider distributions have broader plasticity and thermal tolerance. We predicted that lizard thermal physiology is related to the thermal characteristics of the environment. We also explored the presence of trade-offs of some thermal traits and evaluated the potential effects of a predicted scenario of climate change for these species. We examined sixteen species of Liolaemini lizards from Patagonia representing species with different geographic range sizes. We obtained thermal tolerance data and performance curves for each species in laboratory trials. We found evidence supporting the idea that higher physiological plasticity allows species to achieve broader distribution ranges compared to species with restricted distributions. We also found a trade-off between broad levels of plasticity and higher optimum temperatures of performance. Finally, results from contrasting performance curves against the highest environmental temperatures that lizards may face in a future scenario (year 2080) suggest that the activity of species occurring at high latitudes may be unaffected by predicted climatic changes. Fil: Bonino, Marcelo Fabián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina Fil: Moreno Azócar, Débora Lina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina Fil: Schulte, James A.. Clarkson University; Estados Unidos Fil: Abdala, Cristian Simón. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo; Argentina Fil: Cruz, Felix Benjamin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina

Aim Identifying factors that limit species distributions is a fundamental question in ecology with implications for understanding global biodiversity patterns and species responses to environmental change. Theory suggests that temperature seasonality may affect range size. Species at higher latitudes and elevations experience greater temperature variation, which should lead to broader thermal tolerances and elevational ranges. Research suggests that realized seasonality, or the seasonality species experience when active, may be a better predictor of distributions than annual seasonality. We tested the seasonality hypothesis by examining relationships between environmental factors and elevational range.

Fil: Simoncini, Melina Soledad. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro de Investigaciones Cientificas y Transferencia de Tecnologia A la Produccion; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias. Departamento de Cs.naturales. Laboratorio de Zoologia Aplicada: Anexo Vertebrados (fhuc-unl/maspyma); Argentina

Reptile' distributions, under the light of their strong dependence on particular temperature requirements, may be constrained as a consequence of climate. The relationship between reptile viviparity and climate yielded two previously proposed hypotheses (the cold climate and the maternal ma - nipulation hypotheses) that together with the climatic variability hypothesis; theoretically link climate, distribution and reproductive mode. The extensive variation in mean environmental temperature associated with changes in parity strategies has received much attention in this ectothermic group. Among Southamerican lizards, Liolaemus are distributed in cold and warm regions and more than 50 % of described species are viviparous. We stu - died 47 Liolaemus species considering climatic data where collected, preferred body temperature, its coefficient of variation and their thermal tolerance. Our results do not support the climate variability hypothesis, previously supported in other studies. We found a relationship between viviparity and elevation, but not between viviparity and thermal climatic variables. Finally, viviparous Liolaemus species showed more precise thermoregulatory behavior than oviparous ones, supporting the maternal manipulation hypothesis.

Ecomorphological studies of lizards have explored the role of various morphological traits and how these may be associated with, among other things, habitat use. We present an analysis of selected traits of internal morphology of the hind limbs of Neotropical iguanian lizards and their relationship to habitat use. Considering that one of the most widely-held hypotheses relating to the origin of grasping is associated with the exploitation of the narrow-branch arboreal habitat, we include subdivisions of this designation as two of our ecologically defined categories of habitat exploitation for analysis, and compare lizards assigned to these categories to the features displayed by terrestrial lizards. The influence of phylogeny in shaping the morphology of lizards was assessed by using the comparative method. K values were significant for several osteological traits. Most of the K values for the variables based upon muscle and tendon morphometric characters (13 out 21), by contrast, had values

The introduction of exotic tree species may cause conservation problems to natural habitats, also true for original grasslands in coastal sand dunes. Natural plant cover is used by several species in coast line dunes of Buenos Aires, Argentina, among them the lizard Liolaemus wiegmannii. Here we study the habitat use and abundance of this lizard inhabiting psammophytic grassland in the coastal sand dunes of Buenos Aires, Argentina, where recently Acacia longifolia was introduced. Surveys and lizard sampling were conducted in 40 transects distributed in four independent zones of 75 ha, each one with a different degree of invasion impact. We measured structural and thermal features in relation to A. longifolia and native plants. The lizard L. wiegmannii was three times more abundant in zones with equal or lower than 25 % percent of coverage of A. longifolia. The Jacobs selectivity index showed that all age classes selected native shrubs and avoided A. longifolia trees. These results were similar in green house experiments. However, we found no significant differences in the use of any of these plants (introduced or native) leaf litter. Structural and thermal characteristics of the habitat under the shrubs seemed to be more favorable for the physiological and behavioral performances of L. wiegmannii, whereas the lower temperatures under A. longifolia may explain the lower presence of lizards in areas where this tree was introduced. Fil: Stellatelli, Oscar Aníbal. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Vega, Laura Estela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Block, Carolina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Cruz, Felix Benjamin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigación En Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina

Sexual size dimorphism is a common aspect in animals and different hypotheses to this regard were generated. Additionally, Rensch's rule is an empirical pattern that states that the degree of sexual size dimorphism is more pronounced in species with larger males, and less pronounced in those with larger females. We studied the body size differences, Rensch's rule and sexual dimorphism in morphological features in 22 lizard species of the Liolaemus laurenti clade. We assessed sexual dimorphism using independent contrasts and gauged phylogenetic signal in all measured traits. We intend to answer the following questions: (a) what is the phylogenetic signal of body size and other morphological features?; (b) do the Liolaemus lizards of the laurenti clade follow the Rensch's rule pattern?, and (c) do fecundity advantage or sexual selection hypotheses explain the differences between sexes?. Liolaemus species show low phylogenetic signal in most of the measured traits. In this group, male-larger dimorphism is more common, and several species showed no sexual size dimorphism. Additionally, our results do not support Rensch's rule. Head shape and radius length showed sexual dimorphism suggesting sexual selection. Finally, no relationship was recovered between inter-limb length and reproductive output, thus fecundity advantage hypothesis was not supported. Fil: Cabrera, María Paula. Fundación Miguel Lillo. Dirección de Zoología; Argentina Fil: Scrocchi Manfrini, Gustavo Jose. Fundación Miguel Lillo. Dirección de Zoología; Argentina Fil: Cruz, Felix Benjamin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigación En Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina

We studied the efficiency of thermoregulation in four high elevation Liolaemus species in the Andes of Salta, Argentina; L. irregularis, L. multicolor, L. albiceps and L. yanalcu. One of the species, L. irregularis, shows a broad distribution being in allopatry in some localities and in sympatry with L. albiceps, L. multicolor and L. yanalcu at different sites. Together with this variation in assemblages, the degree of phylogenetic relatedness is different with L. irregularis being most closely related to L. albiceps than to the other two species (L. multicolor and L. yanalcu). We measured body (Tb), microenvironmental (Ta, Ts), and operative temperatures (Te) in the field, and preferred body temperature (Tpref) in laboratory for each one of the species of assemblages. Three out of the four species showed a high thermoregulatory efficiency except for L. yanalcu, a moderate thermoregulator. The species studied here show high Tb in the field compared to most of the recorded Liolaemus species. However, the Tpref values were similar to other Liolaemus species. No evidence of thermal niche segregation between species in sympatry was observed. Our results suggest that the species studied here, despite of living at high elevation and harsh climatic conditions are able to behaviorally or physiologically thermoregulate to achieve Tbs close to their Tpref, probably because of low predation risk and perhaps low levels of competition. Fil: Valdecantos, Maria Soledad. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Salta. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del Noroeste Argentino; Argentina; Fil: Martínez, Virginia Haydée. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Salta. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del Noroeste Argentino; Argentina; Fil: Lobo, Fernando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Salta. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del Noroeste Argentino; Argentina; Fil: Cruz, Felix Benjamin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina

During the last decades the study of functional morphology received more attention incorporating more detailed data corresponding to the internal anatomy that together contribute for a better understanding of the functional basis in locomotion. Here we focus on 2 lizard families, Tropiduridae and Liolaemidae, and use information related to muscle-tendinous and external morphology traits of hind legs. We investigate whether the value of the traits analyzed tend to exhibit a reduced phenotypic variation produced by stabilizing selection, and whether species showing specialization in their habitat use will also exhibit special morphological features related to it. As a result, we identified that evolution of hind limb traits is mainly explained by the Ornstein–Uhlenbeck model, suggesting stabilizing selection. Liolaemids and tropidurids show clear ecomorphological trends in the variables considered, with sand lizards presenting the most specialized morphological traits. Some ecomorphological trends differ between the 2 lineages, and traits of internal morphology tend to be more flexible than those of external morphology, restricting the ability to identify ecomorphs shared between these 2 lineages. Conservative traits of external morphology likely explain such restriction, as ecomorphs have been historically defined in other lizard clades based on variation of external morphology. Fil: Tulli, María José. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico - Tucumán. Unidad Ejecutora Lillo; Argentina Fil: Cruz, Felix Benjamin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina Fil: Kohlsdorf, Tiana. Universidade de Sao Paulo; Brasil Fil: Abdala, Virginia Sara Luz. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucuman. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical. Universidad Nacional de Tucuman. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical; Argentina

The central tenet of ecomorphological theory holds that different ecological requirements lead to different organismal designs (morphology). Here, we studied the relationships between performance (interlocking grasping) and forelimb morphological traits in species of lizards that exploit different structural habitats in a phylogenetic context. The performance (measured by the maximum force of clinging to substrate) was measured on different substrate types. After phylogenetically informed analyses, we found that arboreal and saxicolous species showed stronger resistance to mechanical traction in all substrates when compared to generalists and sand dweller lizards. These species showed a positive relationship between forelimb dimensions (humerus length and length of claw of toe 5) and maximum force exerted, on the contrary, hand width, claw height (CH) of digits III and IV and claw length of toe 4 showed a negative relationship. In addition, we observed a partial positive correlation between CH and maximal cling force on rough surfaces, but not on smooth surfaces.

Reproductive aspects, like number of nests produced per season or clutch size (number of eggs per nest), of broad-snouted caiman (Caiman latirostris) may be affected by a climatic variables such as rainfall and temperature. The success of caiman reproduction is not only affected by the amount of rainfall, but also by the time elapsed during which it takes place. In this study, we present evidence of a positive relationship between the number of nests produced and the amount of precipitation on the water heads (“Bajos Submeridionales”) during March. Surprisingly, there was not a significant relationship when considering local rainfall and temperature. During one event of El Niño phenomena the number of caiman nests was the highest in eight years of monitoring, besides a remarkable low number of nests were produced during La Niña. There was not a significant relationship between clutch size and rainfall or temperature. This information is useful for the ranching programs, because managers will be able to estimate, nine months in advance, the number of nests for harvesting. Another positive aspect is that this information can be used to establish nests' searching strategies, and number of eggs to incubate and hatchlings to raise. Thus, this will help planning management strategies in support of conservation efforts for the species during extreme climatic events.

Liolaemini lizards occur in southern South America in a variety of dietary habits across a broad latitudinal and altitudinal distribution. We studied standard metabolic rates of 19 Liolaemini species and analyzed these data using both conventional and phylogenetically informed statistics. Oxygen consumption showed a significant and positive relationship with body mass (SMR = 0.109 × body mass0.876±0.023), with a higher slope than that expected on the basis of the three-quarter power law model. After phylogenetically informed and conventional analyses, no significant differences in metabolic rates were found to be related to diet or elevation. We hypothesize that small body size, ecological conservatism and physiological compensation may explain the lack of differences in metabolic rates observed among these lizards. Fil: Cruz, Felix Benjamin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina Fil: Antenucci, Carlos Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Luna, Facundo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Abdala, Cristian Simón. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán; Argentina. Fundación Miguel Lillo. Dirección de Zoología. Instituto de Herpetología; Argentina Fil: Vega, Laura Estela. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina

461..475 Although differential selective pressures on males and females of the same species may result in sex-specific evolutionary trajectories, comparative studies of adaptive radiations have largely neglected within-species varia- tion. In this study, we explore the potential effects of natural selection, sexual selection, or a combination of both, on bite performance in males and females of 19 species of Liolaemus lizards. More specifically, we study the evolution of bite performance, and compare evolutionary relationships between the variation in head morphology, bite performance, ecological variation and sexual dimorphism between males and females. Our results suggest that in male Liolaemus, the variation in bite force is at least partly explained by the variation in the degree of sexual dimorphism in head width (i.e. our estimate of the intensity of sexual selection), and neither bite force nor the morphological variables were correlated with diet (i.e. our proxy for natural selection). On the contrary, in females, the variation in bite force and head size can, to a certain extent, be explained by variation in diet. These results suggest that whereas in males, sexual selection seems to be operating on bite performance, in the case of females, natural selection seems to be the most likely and most important selective pressure driving the variation in head size. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 101, 461-475. ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: diet - ecomorphology - interspecific variation - natural selection - sexual differences - sexual selection.

Fil: Aguilar, Rocio. Universidad Nacional del Comahue; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina

The introduction of nonnative plant species might generate habitat modifications that, in turn, increase the predation risk for animals, either by making prey species more conspicuous, limiting the availability of refuges, or by offering vantage points to potential predators. We compared predation pressure and escape behavior of two sympatric species (Liolaemus wiegmannii and Liolaemus multimaculatus) of Sand Lizards inhabiting forested and nonforested grasslands of the pampasic coastal sand dunes of Argentina. Predation pressure was evaluated by measuring the predation rate on plasticine replicas of lizards and the abundance of avian predators. We also recorded flight initiation distance (FID) of lizards in the different habitat types and the microhabitat used as refuge. Both lizard species prefer refuges in native plants but, when they are scarce, the nonnative Acacia longifolia is selected as alternative refuge. In forested habitats, sand-burying behavior is a complementary strategy used by L. multimaculatus to avoid predation. The FID of L. wiegmannii was greater in forested habitats than in nonforested ones. In contrast, L. multimaculatus exhibited a short FID in forested habitats, mostly because sand-burying behavior appears to reduce the risks typically associated with exposed areas. Plasticity in antipredatory behavior suggests that these lizards could recognize predators and develop a suitable antipredatory behavior. We conclude that increased predation pressure and structural alterations of the habitat in the presence of nonnative A. longifolia affect the decisions that determine how, when, and where these lizards flee. Fil: Stellatelli, Oscar Aníbal. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencia Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Block, Carolina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencia Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Vega, Laura Estela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencia Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Cruz, Felix Benjamin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina

The body temperature of ectotherms depends on the environmental temperatures and behavioral adjustments, but morphology may also have an effect. Forexample, in colder environments, animals tend to be larger and to show higher thermal inertia, as proposed by Bergmann's rule and the heat balance hypothesis (HBH). Additionally, dark coloration increases solar radiation absorption and should accelerate heat gain (thermal melanism hypothesis, TMH). We tested Bergmann's rule, the HBH and the TMH within the Liolaemus goetschi lizard clade, which shows variability in body size and melanic coloration. We measured heating and cooling rates of live and euthanized animals, and tested how morphology and color affect these rates. Live organisms showless variable and faster heating rates compared with cooling rates, suggesting behavioral and/or physiological adjustments. Our results support Bergmann's rule and the HBH, as larger species show slower heating and cooling rates. However, we did not find a clear pattern to support the TMH. The influence of dorsal melanism on heating by radiation was masked by the body size effect in live animals, and results from euthanized individuals also showed no clear effects of melanism on heating rates. Comparison among three groups of live individuals with different degrees of melanism did not clarify the influence of melanism on heating rates.However, when euthanized animals fromthe same three groups were compared, we observed that darker euthanized animals actually heat faster than lighter ones, favoring the TMH. Although unresolved aspects remain, body size and coloration influenced heat exchange, suggesting complex thermoregulatory strategies in these lizards, probably regulated through physiology and behavior, which may allow these small lizards to inhabit harsh weather environments. Fil: Moreno Azócar, Débora Lina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina Fil: Bonino, Marcelo Fabián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina Fil: Perotti, Maria Gabriela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina Fil: Schulte, James A.. Beloit College; Estados Unidos Fil: Abdala, Cristian Simón. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Fundación Miguel Lillo. Dirección de Zoología. Instituto de Herpetología; Argentina Fil: Cruz, Felix Benjamin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina

The occurrence of coral snake coloration among unrelated venomous and non‐venomous snake species has often been explained in terms of warning coloration and mimicry. In Argentina, no field tests have been conducted to confirm this mimetic association between one venomous coral species (Micrurus phyrrocryptus, Elapidae) and two non‐venomous snake species with a similar color pattern (Lystrophis pulcher and Oxyrhopus rhombifer, Colubridae). The aims of this work were to test for the possible aposematic or cryptic function of the ring pattern and coloration of coral snakes and false coral snakes from central Argentina, and to analyse whether the pattern is effective throughout the year. Predation on snakes was estimated by using non‐toxic plasticine replicas of ringed venomous and non‐venomous snakes and unbanded green snakes placed along transects in their natural habitat during the dry and rainy season. Ringed color pattern was attacked by predators despite the background color. One of the replica types wa...

We tested for the occurrence of Bergmann's rule, the pattern of increasing body size with latitude, and Rapoport's rule, the positive relationship between geographical range size and latitude, in 34 lineages of Liolaemus lizards that occupy arid regions of the Andean foothills. We tested the climatic-variability hypothesis (CVH) by examining the relationship between thermal tolerance breadth and distribution. Each of these analyses was performed varying the level of phylogenetic inclusiveness. Bergmann's rule and the CVH were supported, but Rapoport's rule was not. More variance in the data for Bergmann's rule and the CVH was explained using species belonging to the L. boulengeri series rather than all species, and inclusion of multiple outgroups tended to obscure these macroecological patterns. Evidence for Bergmann's rule and the predicted patterns from the CVH remained after application of phylogenetic comparative methods, indicating a greater role of ecological processes rather than phylogeny in shaping the current species distributions of these lizards.

Phenotypic differences among species are known to have functional consequences that in turn allow species to use different habitats. However, the role of behaviour in this ecomorphological paradigm is not well defined. We investigated the relationship between morphology, ecology and escape behaviour among 25 species of the lizard clade Liolaemus in a phylogenetic framework. We demonstrate that the relationship between morphology and characteristics of habitat structure shows little or no association, consistent with a previous study on this group. However, a significant relationship was found between morphology and escape behaviour with the distance a lizard moved from a potential predator correlated with body width, axilla-groin length, and pelvis width. A significant relationship between escape behaviour and habitat structure occupation was found; lizards that occupied tree trunks and open ground ran longer distances from predators and were found greater distances from shelter. Behavioural strategies used by these lizards in open habitats appear to have made unnecessary the evolution of limb morphology that has occurred in other lizards from other clades that are found in open settings. Understanding differences in patterns of ecomorphological relationships among clades is an important component for studying adaptive diversification.

Ectothermic organisms strongly depend on temperature, making them an excellent model to study the impact of global climatic change (GCC). Under global warming, species may be forced to move toward colder environments, such as higher latitudes, higher elevations or both. However, several studies show that responses may vary significantly in different groups of species. Therefore, it is unclear whether species’ current distribution range sizes will be affected in future climatic scenarios. In addition to the specific possible effect of range size changes, the potential consequences of distributional range shifts also should be considered. Here, our aim is to assess whether GCC may affect a group of Liolaemus lizard species based on their current geographic distribution range size and whether the effect is uniform across all species using species distribution models (SDMs). Our results show that range boundaries of the fourteen species switch toward higher altitude and latitude in future scenarios. Additionally, there is not a unique pattern in terms of increase or decrease in potential range for lizards in Patagonia in future scenarios. Finally, our results show that the original distribution range size is determinant for the resultant SDMs projections, suggesting that species with a high degree of endemicity may be susceptible to a greater impact of GCC. Fil: Bonino, Marcelo Fabián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigación En Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche. Laboratorio de Fotobiologia; Argentina Fil: Moreno Azócar, Débora Lina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigación En Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche. Laboratorio de Fotobiologia; Argentina Fil: Schulte, James A.. Department of Biology, Clarkson University; Estados Unidos Fil: Cruz, Felix Benjamin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigación En Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche. Laboratorio de Fotobiologia; Argentina

We studied a population of Tropidurus spinulosus, an arboreal lizard species from the dry chaco of Salta, Argentina. This species is reproducing seasonally. Females are reproductively active from November to January, whereas males are October through December. More than a clutch per cycle could be laid. Clutch size was 5.0 and is positively correlated to snout-vent length. Reproductive characteristics are similar to other Tropidurus species. Arboreality and environmental adaptations are proximal interpretations of the species-specific reproductive biology in this lizard.

The importance of the thermal environment for ectotherms and its relationship with thermal physiology and ecology is widely recognized. Several models have been proposed to explain the evolution of the thermal biology of ectotherms, but experimental studies have provided mixed support. Lizards from the Liolaemus goetschi group can be found along a wide latitudinal range across Argentina. The group is monophyletic and widely distributed, and therefore provides excellent opportunities to study the evolution of thermal biology. We studied thermal variables of 13 species of the Liolaemus goetschi group, in order to answer three questions. First, are aspects of the thermal biology of the L. goetschi group modelled by the environment or are they evolutionarily conservative? Second, have thermal characteristics of these animals co-evolved? And third, how do the patterns of co-evolution observed within the L. goetschi group compare to those in a taxonomically wider selection of species of Liolaemus? We collected data on 13 focal species and used species information of Liolaemus lizards available in the literature and additional data obtained by the authors. We tackled these questions using both conventional and phylogenetically based analyses. Our results show that lizards from the L. goetschi group and the genus Liolaemus in general vary in critical thermal minimum in relation to mean air temperature, and particularly the L. goetschi group shows that air temperature is associated with critical thermal range, as well as with body temperature. Although the effect of phylogeny cannot be ignored, our results indicate that these thermal biology aspects are modelled by cold environments of Patagonia, while other aspects (preferred body temperature and critical thermal maximum) are more conservative. We found evidence of co-evolutionary patterns between critical thermal minimum and preferred body temperature at both phylogenetic scales (the L. goetschi group and the extended sample of 64 Liolaemus species). Fil: Moreno Azócar, Débora Lina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigación En Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina. University of Antwerp. Laboratory of Functional Morphology; Bélgica Fil: Vanhooydonck, Bieke. University of Antwerp. Laboratory of Functional Morphology; Bélgica Fil: Bonino, Marcelo Fabián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigación En Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina Fil: Perotti, Maria Gabriela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigación En Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina Fil: Abdala, Cristian Simón. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales E Instituto Miguel Lillo; Argentina Fil: Schulte, James A.. Clarkson University. Department of Biology; Estados Unidos Fil: Cruz, Felix Benjamin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigación En Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina

MB and MR were funded by a grant from the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, BC by the Rufford Foundation. North American and Mexican species assessments were funded by the Regina Bauer Frankenberg Foundation for Animal Welfare. Species assessments under the Global Reptile Assessment (GRA) initiative are supported by: Moore Family Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Conservation International, Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), and European Commission. Additional acknowledgements are included in the online supplementary material. The assessment workshop for Mexican reptiles was kindly hosted by Ricardo Ayala and the station personnel of the Estacion de Biologia Chamela, Institut de Biologia, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. Workshop and logistical organisation of the Philippines assessments was provided by the Conservation International Philippines Office, in particular Ruth Grace Rose Ambal, Melizar V. Duya and Oliver Coroza. Workshop and logistical organisation for the European Reptile and Amphibian Assessments was provided by Doga Dernegi, in particular Ozge Balkiz and Ozgur Koc. Workshop and logistical organisation for assessments of sea snakes and homalopsids was provided by the International Sea Turtle Symposium and Dr. Colin Limpus (Australian Government Environmental Protection Agency). Special thanks to Jenny Chapman (EPA) and Chloe Schaub le (ISTS). Thank you also to Dr. Gordon Guymer (Chief Botanist Director of Herbarium) for accommodating us at the Herbarium in the Brisbane Botanical Gardens, and Mark Read and Kirsten Dobbs (Great Barrier Reef Marine Parks Association) and Dave Pollard and Brad Warren (Ocean Watch Australia) for institutional support. Mohamed Bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, Conservation International Madagascar and the Darwin Initiative contributed to funding the costs of the Madagascar reptile workshop., Effective and targeted conservation action requires detailed information about species, their distribution, systematics and ecology as well as the distribution of threat processes which affect them. Knowledge of reptilian diversity remains surprisingly disparate, and innovative means of gaining rapid insight into the status of reptiles are needed in order to highlight urgent conservation cases and inform environmental policy with appropriate biodiversity information in a timely manner. We present the first ever global analysis of extinction risk in reptiles, based on a random representative sample of 1500 species (16% of all currently known species). To our knowledge, our results provide the first analysis of the global conservation status and distribution patterns of reptiles and the threats affecting them, highlighting conservation priorities and knowledge gaps which need to be addressed urgently to ensure the continued survival of the world’s reptiles. Nearly one in five reptilian species are threatened with extinction, with another one in five species classed as Data Deficient. The proportion of threatened reptile species is highest in freshwater environments, tropical regions and on oceanic islands, while data deficiency was highest in tropical areas, such as Central Africa and Southeast Asia, and among fossorial reptiles. Our results emphasise the need for research attention to be focussed on tropical areas which are experiencing the most dramatic rates of habitat loss, on fossorial reptiles for which there is a chronic lack of data, and on certain taxa such as snakes for which extinction risk may currently be underestimated due to lack of population information. Conservation actions specifically need to mitigate the effects of human-induced habitat loss and harvesting, which are the predominant threats to reptiles., Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, Rufford Foundation, Regina Bauer Frankenberg Foundation for Animal Welfare, Moore Family Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Conservation International, Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), European Commission Joint Research Centre, Zayed Species Conservation Fund, Conservation International Madagascar, Darwin Initiative

Habitat modification alters several aspects of the original fauna, among them the opportunity for thermoregulation. Here, we studied the thermal biology of sympatric populations of two lizard species (Liolaemus multimaculatus and Liolaemus wiegmannii) in two different situations; a grassland without trees (natural habitat) and in a grassland plus the exotic tree Acacia longifolia (modified habitat), aiming to assess whether the structural alteration of native Pampean coastal grasslands of Argentina affects the thermal biology of these lizards. Field body temperatures, laboratory preferred temperatures, microenvironmental temperatures, operative temperatures, thermoregulatory efficiency and spatial distribution of each species were analyzed in both habitats. Environmental operative temperature was 0.64 1C lower in the modified habitat (Te¼38.39 1C) than in the natural (Te¼39.03 1C). Thermoregulatory efficiency (E) of L. wiegmannii was lower in modified sites (E¼0.58) than in natural sites (E¼0.70). This difference may be because this lizard occupied shaded microhabitats under acacias, with suboptimal thermal features. In contrast, L. multimaculatus in the modified habitat restricted its activity to open microenvironments that retained a similar structure to that of the native habitat, while maintaining high thermoregulatory efficiency in both habitat types (Emodified¼0.92; Enatural¼0.96). Although these two lizard species are phylogenetically close, they respond differently to human-induced changes in their thermal environments. The introduction of A. longifolia into coastal grasslands for L. wiegmannii in particular, this introduction converts its native habitat into a suboptimal thermal environment Fil: Stellatelli, Oscar Aníbal. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencia Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Vega, Laura Estela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencia Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Block, Carolina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencia Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Cruz, Felix Benjamin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina

The variation in substrate structure is one of the most important determinants of the locomotor abilities in lizards. Lizards are found across a gradient of habitats from large rocks to loose sand, each of them with conflicting mechanical demands on locomotion. We examined the relationship 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 asses which processes drive variability in morphology (i.e. phylogeny or adaptation to habitat) to understand how substrate structure affects sprint speed in species occupying different habitats, and to understand the relationship between morphology and performance. Liolaemini lizards show that most morphological traits are constrained by phylogeny, particularly toe 3, 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 suggests that they confer to the ?jack of all trades and master of none? principle. Fil: Tulli, María José. Fundación Miguel Lillo. Dirección de Zoología. Instituto de Herpetología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico - Tucumán. Unidad Ejecutora Lillo; Argentina Fil: Abdala, Virginia Sara Luz. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucuman. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical. Universidad Nacional de Tucuman. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical; Argentina Fil: Cruz, Felix Benjamin. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina

The genus Liolaemus is a group of lizards with more than 230 recognized species, which have been grouped in differentclades and subgroups. One of the monophyletic groups is the one of Liolaemus boulengeri or “the patch group”; this cladeitself is integrated by several monophyletic groups: the groups Liolaemus anomalus, Liolaemus wiegmanii, Liolaemusdarwinii and Liolaemus melanops. The latter group is constituted almost exclusively by Patagonian lizards, and it is ourfocal group. In the present work we describe three new species belonging to the Liolaemus melanops group. One of thenew taxon described, Liolaemus tromen sp. nov., is related to the Liolaemus fitzingerii clade, inhabits in the Center-Westof Neuquén Province, and was confused initially with Liolaemus hermannunezi, a mountain Chilean species. The secondspecies described, Liolaemus purul sp. nov., belongs to the Liolaemus telsen clade, inhabits in the center and north-westof Neuquén Province, and was confused first with Liolaemus boulengeri and then with Liolaemus loboi. While the thirdspecies, Liolaemus dumerili sp. nov., is basal of the L. goetschi group, inhabits in the center-south of Río Negro provinceand was considered as Liolaemus melanops. In addition, we present a phylogenetic analysis based in the morphology and we contribute with a dichotomic key for males of the Liolaemus melanops group. Fil: Abdala, Cristian Simón. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Semhan, Romina Valeria. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Moreno Azócar, Débora Lina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina Fil: Bonino, Marcelo Fabián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina Fil: Paz, Marcos Maximiliano. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Cruz, Felix Benjamin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina

The integration or coadaptation of morphological, physiological, and behavioral traits is represented by whole-organism performance traits such as locomotion or bite force. Additionally, maximum sprint speed is a good indicator of whole-organism performance capacity as variation in sprinting ability can affect survival. We studied thermal biology, morphology, and locomotor performance in a clade of Liolaemus lizards that occurs in the Patagonian steppe and plateaus, a type of habitat characterized by its harsh cold climate. Liolaemus of the lineomaculatus section display a complex mixture of conservative and flexible traits. The phylogenetically informed analyses of these ten Liolaemus species show little coevolution of their thermal traits (only preferred and optimum temperatures were correlated). With regard to performance, maximum speed was positively correlated with optimum temperature. Body size and morphology influenced locomotor performance. Hindlimbs are key for maximal speed, but forelimb length was a better predictor for sustained speed (i.e. average speed over a total distance of 1.2 m). Finally, sustained speed differed among species with different diets, with herbivores running on average faster over a long distance than omnivores. J. Exp. Zool. 315:495–503, 2011. & 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Traditionally, it has been suggested that variation in locomotor mode should be correlated with variation in the anatomy of the structures responsible for locomotion. Indeed, organisms can expand their ecological niche by using specialized traits of the locomotor system including claws, adhesive pads, etc. Despite the fact that claws are the most common biological mechanism of clinging in vertebrates, little is known about their function or evolutionary relationship to habitat use. The present study focuses on claw morphology across lizards occupying different microhabitats in 57 species of iguanian lizards. Qualitative differences in claw shape were explored by means of digital photographs and quantitative measurements of the length, height and curvature of the claws of both fingers and toes were taken and correlated to information on microhabitat use obtained from the literature. Our analyses showed a strong phylogenetic component, obscuring relationships between morphology and ecology with animals occupying similar habitats often being closely related. Our results also show differences in claw morphology between species that appear to be related to microhabitat use (climbing versus terrestrial species), with the best ecological descriptors being claw length and height. Performance measures and biomechanical analyses of claw function may consequently be better suited to explain the evolution of claw shape in relation to habitat use in this group. Fil: Tulli, María José. Fundación Miguel Lillo. Dirección de Zoología. Instituto de Herpetología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico - Tucumán. Unidad Ejecutora Lillo; Argentina Fil: Cruz, Felix Benjamin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina Fil: Herrel, Anthony. Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle; Francia Fil: Vanhooydonck, Bieke. University of Antwerp; Países Bajos Fil: Abdala, Virginia Sara Luz. Fundación Miguel Lillo. Dirección de Zoología. Instituto de Herpetología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical; Argentina

Several aspects of the biology of Phymaturus lizards including their herbivorous diet, specialized microhabitat use, and viviparous reproductive mode are highly conserved within the group. Here, we explore two aspects of Phymaturus thermal biology and test for the co-evolution among aspects of the thermal biology in these lizards, such as thermal preferenda and critical temperatures. Secondly, we explore correlations among variation in thermal biology with elevation and latitude. To do so, we used phylogenetically based comparative analyses (PCM) together with conventional statistics. Our results show that thermal biology for Phymaturus is conservative and our data do not suggest the co-evolution of thermal variables. Moreover, we detected low levels of variation in the thermal parameters studied, and no clear relationships between climatic and thermal variables. As a significant association between climatic and thermal variables could be demonstrated for a set of syntopic Liolaemus lizards, we suggest that thermal biology in Phymaturus lizards may be evolutionarily or ecologically constrained.

Context. Exotic forestations may modify habitat quality, affecting native animal populations that require specific microhabitats to remain viable. Aims. We determined whether abundances and body condition of the lizard species Liolaemus wiegmannii and L. multimaculatus differed between forested and non-forested dunes. We also examined what environmental attributes are important in explaining the potential differences. Methods. We sampled six sites of 300 ha each. Three of these sites had original vegetation and three were forested with exotic Acacia longifolia. We traced 120 transects per site searching for lizards. Key results. Lizards were two times more abundant in non-forested sites than in sites covered by acacia trees (even as low as a fourth of the area). Sites with high densities of acacia ( 78% of coverage) had the lowest abundance of lizards. In forested sites, the snout–vent length of L. wiegmannii was 10% smaller and relative body mass 22% lower than in nonforested sites. We found no differences in the body size of L. multimaculatus. Conclusions. The replacement of the native vegetation by A. longifolia has negative effects on lizard species, representing a substantial threat to L. wiegmannii and particularly to L. multimaculatus, a threatened status species. Structural and thermal characteristics of the non-forested sites seemed to be more favourable for the abundance and body condition, whereas the dense vegetation and the low temperatures on the forested sites might explain the lower presence of lizards. Implications. We recommend that before the implementation of future forestation plans in the pampasic coastal dunes, the deleterious consequences that this practice generates on native lizard fauna must be considered. When necessary, we recommend that A. longifolia be planted so that the coverage does not exceed a quarter of the total area, so as to prevent the formation of continuous (or closed) forest patches and to maintain the structural heterogeneity of the habitat that these lizards need to survive. In the most affected areas, eradication and control strategies may help reduce the advancement of this exotic plant over the areas intended for conservation. Fil: Stellatelli, Oscar Aníbal. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Cs.exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biologia. Laboratorio de Vertebrados; Argentina Fil: Block, Carolina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Cs.exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biologia. Laboratorio de Vertebrados; Argentina Fil: Vega, Laura Estela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Subsede Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Pesquero; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Cs.exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biologia Experimental. Laboratorio de Vertebrados; Argentina Fil: Cruz, Felix Benjamin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigación En Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Comahue; Argentina

Individual species' phenologies can play an important role in the structure of lizard assem- blages over short time scales. Data from a pitfall study carried out in the dry Chaco of Argentina were used to address the question of how species are distributed in their assemblage through time. Lizard activity and species richness were highest in the spring breeding season and declined in the cool months of the year. Variations in seasonal activity patterns and reproductive chronology resulted in significantly different dis- tributions of species in every sample month. Not only did the species composition of the assemblage change through time, but the mean size of lizards and the proportions of males, females, and juveniles varied significantly for several species. Large lizards, regardless of species, disappeared from the assemblage during the cool, dry winter, while juveniles of the large species remained active year round. Adults of the smallest species were also active throughout the year. We propose an hypothesis based on thermoregulatory con- straints of lizard body size to account for these patterns. An approach focusing on the energetics and phys- iological ecology of individual species would be fruitful in understanding the dynamics of fluctuating lizard communities.