Topic
Urosaurus
About: Urosaurus is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 40 publications have been published within this topic receiving 1603 citations.
Papers
TL;DR: Multiple regression with phylogenetically independent contrasts indicates that interspecific variation in maximal speed is positively correlated with hindlimb span, but not significantly related to either body mass or body temperature.
Abstract: We measured sprint performance of phrynosomatid lizards and selected outgroups (n = 27 species). Maximal sprint running speeds were obtained with a new measurement technique, a high-speed treadmill (H.S.T.). Animals were measured at their approximate field-active body temperatures once on both of 2 consecutive days. Within species, individual variation in speed measurements was consistent between trial days and repeatabilities were similar to values reported previously for photocell-timed racetrack measurements. Multiple regression with phylogenetically independent contrasts indicates that interspecific variation in maximal speed is positively correlated with hindlimb span, but not significantly related to either body mass or body temperature. Among the three phrynosomatid subclades, sand lizards (Uma, Callisaurus, Cophosaurus, Holbrookia) have the highest sprint speeds and longest hindlimbs, horned lizards (Phrynosoma) exhibit the lowest speeds and shortest limbs, and the Sceloporus group (including Uta and Urosaurus) is intermediate in both speed and hindlimb span.
179 citations
TL;DR: There appeared to be a lower transition bias than observed in other vertebrate sequences, with some classes of transversions occurring as frequently as G <-> A transitions, and transitions were no less informative for phylogeny reconstruction than transversions.
101 citations
TL;DR: Results are consistent with the hypothesis that aggression is lateralized to the right hemisphere, and one of only a few examples of laterality of brain function demonstrated in a free-ranging vertebrate.
Abstract: In a field study on male tree lizards (Urosaurus ornatus) , we tested the hypothesis that aggression is lateralized, and predicted that resident males should preferentially use the l
79 citations
Journal Article•
36 citations
TL;DR: This work analyzed both visual display behavior (push-up, full-show) and chemosensory behavior (tongue flick and nose tap) of male lizards following their introduction to a resident conspecific male in his home terrarium.
Abstract: Communication in one sensory modality can influence communication in others. Lizards in many phrynosomatid species use primarily visual but also chemical signals. The striped plateau lizard, Sceloporus virgatus, exhibits evolutionary loss of a male color signal that in many species is used during aggressive postural displays towards conspecific males. These patches are used similarly in Urosaurus, the sister genus to Sceloporus. We compared a species in which a color signal has been lost, S. virgatus, to a species retaining the ancestral character state of blue abdominal display patches, Urosaurus ornatus, the common tree lizard, to test two hypotheses: (i) conspicuous postural displays that reveal the abdominal patch location are used less in the species that has lost the color patches; and (ii) potential chemical signals are used more in the species with the color loss. We analyzed both visual display behavior (push-up, full-show) and chemosensory behavior (tongue flick and nose tap) of male lizards following their introduction to a resident conspecific male in his home terrarium. Resident males performed very low rates of all behaviors, but intruders exhibited sufficient behavior for analysis.
Supporting the first hypothesis, S. virgatus were less likely than U. ornatus to perform full-show, a display that reveals abdominal skin. Male S. virgatus were more likely to perform push-up than U. ornatus, although S. virgatus performed push-up infrequently. Push-up is a postural display that does not specifically reveal the abdominal patch location. Supporting the second hypothesis, S. virgatus were more likely to perform chemosensory behaviors and performed them at a greater rate than did U. ornatus. Work comparing more closely related species is warranted to determine whether a negative association between conspicuous visual displays and chemosensory behavior is a general pattern.
34 citations
Related Topics (5)
Performance Metrics
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2017 | 2 |
| 2015 | 2 |
| 2013 | 1 |
| 2012 | 1 |
| 2011 | 1 |
| 2010 | 1 |