Department of Evolutionary Ecology, National Museum of Natural Sciences, C.S.I.C., Madrid, Spain.
Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
PLoS One. 2019 Mar 15;14(3):e0211686. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0211686. eCollection 2019.
Widespread species often show extensive phenotypic variation due to the contrasting abiotic and biotic factors that shape selective pressures in different environments. In this context, the gradual and predictable patterns of variation in climatic and environmental conditions found in mountain areas offer a great opportunity to explore intraspecific phenotypic variation. For instance, temperature is negatively correlated with altitude and virtually all aspects of the behavior and physiology of ectotherms are sensitive to body temperature. In this work, we tested the hypothesis that morphology, dorsal and ventral coloration and the chemical profile of femoral secretions show interpopulational and seasonal variation in the lacertid lizard (Podarcis liolepis). We compared lizards from three populations inhabiting lowland and highland habitats in the French Pyrenees that were closely related genetically. We found that highland lizards were larger, stockier, had longer heads and more femoral pores and had a darker dorsal coloration than lowland ones. In addition, we detected interpopulational differences in both the abundance and the richness of chemical compounds in the glandular secretions, and we also found seasonal variation in the overall chemical composition. Dorsal and ventral coloration differed seasonally and between populations. Ventral and dorsal brightness were higher in lowland than in highland lizards in the reproductive season whereas the reversed trend was found in the non-reproductive season but only for dorsal brightness. In addition, all lizards had browner dorsal coloration in the non-reproductive season, and lowland lizards were greener in the reproductive season. By integrating information from both visual and chemical systems, our works offers a comprehensive view of how these lizards communicate in a multimodal context.
广泛分布的物种由于塑造不同环境选择压力的对比生物和非生物因素，通常表现出广泛的表型变异。在这种情况下，山区气候和环境条件的渐变和可预测变化模式为探索种内表型变异提供了极好的机会。例如，温度与海拔呈负相关，几乎所有变温动物的行为和生理的各个方面都对体温敏感。在这项工作中，我们检验了这样一个假设，即形态、背部和腹部颜色以及股骨分泌物的化学特征在蜥蜴（Podarcis liolepis）中表现出种群间和季节性变化。我们比较了来自法国比利牛斯山脉低地和高地栖息地的三种亲缘关系密切的蜥蜴种群。我们发现，高地蜥蜴体型更大、更强壮，头部更长，股骨孔更多，背部颜色更深。此外，我们还检测到腺体分泌物中化学化合物的丰度和丰富度存在种群间差异，并且还发现了整体化学成分的季节性变化。背部和腹部颜色存在季节性和种群间差异。繁殖季节，低地蜥蜴的背部和腹部比高地蜥蜴更亮，但在非繁殖季节则相反，但仅指背部亮度。此外，所有蜥蜴在非繁殖季节的背部颜色更偏棕色，而低地蜥蜴在繁殖季节更绿。通过整合视觉和化学系统的信息，我们的工作提供了一个综合的视角，了解这些蜥蜴如何在多模态环境中进行交流。
