Pregnant female lizards Iberolacerta cyreni adjust refuge use to decrease thermal costs for their body condition and...

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Animal Behavior
• Physiology

Background:

• Increased predation risk often leads lizards to use refuges, potentially sacrificing thermoregulation.
• This thermoregulatory loss can negatively impact body condition, especially for pregnant females needing optimal temperatures for embryonic development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effects of prolonged refuge use (low temperatures) on the body condition and health of pregnant female lizards.
• To determine if initial body condition influences refuge use strategies in response to predation risk.

Main Methods:

• Female Iberian rock lizards were experimentally subjected to increased refuge use at low temperatures.
• Body condition and cell-mediated immune responses were assessed.
• Predatory attack simulations were used to observe behavioral modifications in refuge use relative to body condition.

Main Results:

• Females forced into prolonged refuge use exhibited lower body condition and a trend towards reduced immune responses compared to controls.
• Females with poorer initial body condition reduced their refuge use time following simulated predatory attacks.

Conclusions:

• Loss of thermoregulation due to increased refuge use imposes costs on pregnant female lizards' body condition and health.
• Female lizards demonstrate flexible antipredatory strategies, adjusting refuge use based on their body condition to mitigate these costs.