Differences in the thermal physiology of adult Yarrow's spiny lizards (Sceloporus jarrovii) in relation to sex and body size.

ABSTRACT: Sexual size dimorphism (SSD) is often assumed to reflect the phenotypic consequences of differential selection operating on each sex. Species that exhibit SSD may also show intersexual differences in other traits, including field-active body temperatures, preferred temperatures, and locomotor performance. For these traits, differences may be correlated with differences in body size or reflect sex-specific trait optima. Male and female Yarrow's spiny lizards, Sceloporus jarrovii, in a population in southeastern Arizona exhibit a difference in body temperature that is unrelated to variation in body size. The observed sexual variation in body temperature may reflect divergence in thermal physiology between the sexes. To test this hypothesis, we measured the preferred body temperatures of male

SUBMITTER: Beal MS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4267861 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature