Department of Biology, Georgia Southern University, PO Box 8042, Statesboro, GA 30460-8042, USA.
Zoology (Jena). 2013 Jun;116(3):151-8. doi: 10.1016/j.zool.2013.01.001. Epub 2013 Apr 8.
Effectively moving across variable substrates is important to all terrestrial animals. The effects of substrates on lizard performance have ecological ramifications including the partitioning of habitat according to sprinting ability on different surfaces. This phenomenon is known as sprint sensitivity, or the decrease in sprint speed due to change in substrate. However, sprint sensitivity has been characterized only in arboreal Anolis lizards. Our study measured sensitivity to substrate rugosity among six lizard species that occupy rocky, sandy, and/or arboreal habitats. Lizards that use rocky habitats are less sensitive to changes in substrate rugosity, followed by arboreal lizards, and then by lizards that use sandy habitats. We infer from comparative phylogenetic analysis that forelimb, chest, and tail dimensions are important external morphological features related to sensitivity to changes in substrate rugosity.
有效地在不同的基质上移动对所有陆生动物都很重要。基质对蜥蜴表现的影响具有生态意义，包括根据在不同表面上的短跑能力对栖息地进行划分。这种现象被称为短跑敏感性，即在基质改变时短跑速度的下降。然而，短跑敏感性仅在树栖的安乐蜥中被描述过。我们的研究测量了六种栖息在岩石、沙质和/或树栖环境中的蜥蜴对基质粗糙度变化的敏感性。在使用岩石生境的蜥蜴中，对基质粗糙度变化的敏感性较低，其次是树栖蜥蜴，然后是使用沙质生境的蜥蜴。我们从比较系统发育分析中推断出，前肢、胸部和尾巴的尺寸是与对基质粗糙度变化的敏感性相关的重要外部形态特征。
