Quantification of correlational selection on thermal physiology, thermoregulatory behavior, and energy metabolism in lizards.

ABSTRACT: Phenotypic selection is widely accepted as the primary cause of adaptive evolution in natural populations, but selection on complex functional properties linking physiology, behavior, and morphology has been rarely quantified. In ectotherms, correlational selection on thermal physiology, thermoregulatory behavior, and energy metabolism is of special interest because of their potential coadaptation. We quantified phenotypic selection on thermal sensitivity of locomotor performance (sprint speed), thermal preferences, and resting metabolic rate in captive populations of an ectothermic vertebrate, the common lizard, Zootoca vivipara. No correlational selection between thermal sensitivity of performance, thermoregulatory behavior, and energy metabolism was found. A combination of high body mas

SUBMITTER: Artacho P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4567864 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature