Lin Jhan-Wei, Chen Ying-Rong, Li Tsui-Wen, Shaner Pei-Jen L, Lin Si-Min
1School of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, No. 88, Sec. 4, Tingzhou Rd., Taipei, Taiwan.
2Department of Biology, National Museum of Natural Science, No. 1, Guanqian Rd., Taichung, Taiwan.
Zoological Lett. 2020 Jan 6;6:1. doi: 10.1186/s40851-019-0152-0. eCollection 2020.
Based on 20,000 records representing . 11,000 individuals from an 8-year capture-mark-recapture (CMR) study, we tested and confirmed a new case of invariant clutch size (ICS) in a sexually dichromatic lacertid lizard, . In the grassland habitat of the early succession stage, females showed strictly low and invariant clutch size, multiple clutches in a breeding season, high reproductive potential, and annual breeding cycles that correspond to the emergence of male courtship coloration. The hatchlings mature quickly, and join the adult cohort for breeding within a few months, whereas adults show low survival rates and a short lifespan, such that most die within one year. Mortality increased in both sexes during the breeding season, especially in females, indicating an unequal cost of reproduction in survival. These life history characters may be explained by two non-exclusive hypotheses of ICS-arboreal hypothesis and predation hypothesis-within the ecological context of their habitat. Our study highlights a confirmed case of ICS, which adapts well to this -selected grassland habitat that experiences seasonal fluctuation and frequent disturbance.
基于一项为期8年的标记重捕（CMR）研究中代表11000个个体的20000条记录，我们在一种两性异色的蜥蜴中测试并确认了一例新的恒定窝卵数（ICS）情况。在早期演替阶段的草原栖息地中，雌性表现出严格的低且恒定的窝卵数、繁殖季节内的多窝产卵、高繁殖潜力以及与雄性求偶色出现相对应的年度繁殖周期。幼体成熟迅速，并在几个月内加入成年群体进行繁殖，而成年个体的存活率较低且寿命较短，以至于大多数在一年内死亡。繁殖季节两性的死亡率均有所上升，尤其是雌性，这表明繁殖在生存方面的成本不平等。这些生活史特征可能由ICS的两个非排他性假说来解释——树栖假说和捕食假说——在其栖息地的生态背景下。我们的研究突出了一个已确认的ICS案例，它很好地适应了这个经历季节性波动和频繁干扰的选择的草原栖息地。
