Intraspecific support for the climate variability hypothesis: oxidative damage in lizards after acute temperature exposure.

ABSTRACT: Ectotherms face mounting challenges from climate variability. The climate variability hypothesis predicts that species from more variable environments will exhibit greater physiological resilience, but this has been largely untested within a species. Because ectotherm metabolic rates increase with temperature, mitochondrial function and its byproduct, reactive oxygen species, may play key roles in this thermal resilience. This study examined how temperature affects oxidative damage in prairie lizards (Sceloporus consobrinus) from three populations (northern, central and southern) along a latitudinal gradient in two separate experiments on different individuals. In the first experiment, lizards were exposed to day-long thermal exposures (18°C and 37°C). Oxidative damage, measured as 8-hydro

SUBMITTER: Haussmann BD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12517349 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature