Shine R, Harlow P
School of Biological Sciences A08, The University of Sydney, 2006, N.S.W., Australia.
Oecologia. 1993 Oct;96(1):122-127. doi: 10.1007/BF00318039.
Gravid females of the viviparous scincid lizard Eulamprus heatwolei were maintained in the laboratory, with some females allowed to bask for 8 h/day and others for only 2 h/day. Maternal basking regimes influenced the gestation period, and significantly affected the body shapes, activity levels and running speeds of the offspring born to these females. Neonates from females with lesser basking opportunities were relatively short and fat, were very active, and were relatively fast runners. Effects of the embryos' thermal regime on the young lizards' morphology and running speed were still detectable two months after birth. Thus, much of the morphological and behavioral variation among neonatal reptiles may arise from phenotypically plastic responses to the thermal environments experienced during embryonic development, rather than from heritable genetic differences among individuals. Hence, selection on maternal thermoregulatory behavior may be an important avenue for adaptive modifications to neonatal phenotypes in reptiles.
胎生石龙子蜥蜴尤氏石龙子的怀孕雌蜥被饲养在实验室中，一些雌蜥每天被允许晒太阳8小时，而其他雌蜥每天仅被允许晒太阳2小时。母体晒太阳的方式影响了妊娠期，并显著影响了这些雌蜥所产后代的体型、活动水平和奔跑速度。晒太阳机会较少的雌蜥所产后代相对短粗，非常活跃，且奔跑速度相对较快。胚胎的热环境对幼蜥形态和奔跑速度的影响在出生两个月后仍可检测到。因此，新生爬行动物之间许多形态和行为上的差异可能源于胚胎发育期间对热环境的表型可塑性反应，而非个体间可遗传的基因差异。因此，对母体体温调节行为的选择可能是爬行动物新生代表型适应性改变的一条重要途径。
