Volatile fatty acid and aldehyde abundances evolve with behavior and habitat temperature in Sceloporus lizards.

ABSTRACT: Animal signals evolve by striking a balance between the need to convey information through particular habitats and the limitations of what types of signals can most easily be produced and perceived. Here, we present new results from field measures of undisturbed behavior and biochemical analyses of scent marks from 12 species of Sceloporus lizards to explore whether evolutionary changes in chemical composition are better predicted by measures of species behavior, particularly those associated with visual displays, chemoreception, and locomotion, or by measures of habitat climate (precipitation and temperature). We found that more active lizard species used fewer compounds in their volatile scent marks, perhaps conveying less specific information about individual and species identity

SUBMITTER: Campos SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7390997 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul-Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature