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Energetics of lizard embryos at fluctuating temperatures
Christopher E Oufiero1, Michael J Angilletta
1Department of Biology, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN 47809, USA.
Physiological and Biochemical Zoology : PBZ
|August 7, 2010
Summary
Embryonic development in Sceloporus undulatus lizards shows that warmer temperatures do not significantly increase the energy cost of development. This finding suggests embryonic metabolism is consistent across fluctuating and constant thermal conditions.
Area of Science:
- Zoology
- Developmental Biology
- Ecology
Background:
- Most animal development occurs amidst fluctuating environmental temperatures.
- The energetic costs of embryonic development under variable temperatures remain understudied.
- Previous research often overlooks the impact of thermal fluctuations on developmental energetics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the energetic costs of embryonic development in Sceloporus undulatus lizards under fluctuating temperature regimes.
- To compare the metabolic rates and energy expenditure of embryos exposed to different thermal fluctuation patterns.
- To determine if warmer nest temperatures lead to increased energy expenditure during development.
Main Methods:
- Quantified metabolic rates of Sceloporus undulatus embryos during development.
- Incubated embryos under two distinct diel temperature cycles (20°C–30°C and 20°C–34°C).
- Utilized Akaike Information Criterion to model metabolic rate changes and estimated energetic costs by integrating metabolic rates over incubation periods.
Main Results:
- A sigmoidal model best described metabolic rate changes for most embryos (75%).
- Embryos in warmer treatments exhibited shorter incubation periods.
- The overall energetic cost of development was approximately 1.6 kJ and did not significantly differ between the two thermal treatments.
Conclusions:
- Embryonic development in Sceloporus undulatus lizards does not incur significantly higher energetic costs under warmer fluctuating temperatures.
- The energy expenditure during embryonic development under realistic thermal fluctuations is comparable to that under constant temperature conditions.
- Findings suggest developmental energetics are robust to thermal variability in this species.
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