Introduction
Several lizard species inhabit the University of Arizona’s Joseph Wood Krutch Gardens and interact with their environment in different ways. One such way is thermoregulation, which is influenced by body size and environmental temperature. Lizards are ectotherms, meaning they do not self-maintain internal body temperatures; instead, they are the same temperature as the surrounding environment. A rule that explains body mass and temperature correlations, called Bergmann’s rule, predicts a positive correlation between animal body mass and elevation. At higher elevations temperatures are lower, so this rule predicts that larger animals live in cooler environments (Pincheira-Donoso et al, 2008). However, Bergmann’s rule has only been shown in mammals and birds, but not necessarily for reptiles (Ashton e al, 2003). Only about 75 percent of ectotherms conform to Bergmann’s rule, however this number is under scrutiny and is believed to be lower (Pincheira-Donoso et al, 2008). In other cases, scaled reptiles known as …show more content…
This leads to the question, if more lizard species were observed in Krutch gardens, would they all have a positive Bergmann’s cline, or would they have a reversed cline as in the case of S. graciosus? Pursuing a study where more species were observed, with set time intervals throughout the day and with weights recorded would be valuable as well to confirm with increased certainty or to negate whether the different lizard species do exhibit a positive Bergmann’s cline. If possible, it would also be interesting to compare lizard species from Krutch gardens to lizard species of a higher elevation, such as Mt. Lemmon, to see if the same results are
Several lizard species inhabit the University of Arizona’s Joseph Wood Krutch Gardens and interact with their environment in different ways. One such way is thermoregulation, which is influenced by body size and environmental temperature. Lizards are ectotherms, meaning they do not self-maintain internal body temperatures; instead, they are the same temperature as the surrounding environment. A rule that explains body mass and temperature correlations, called Bergmann’s rule, predicts a positive correlation between animal body mass and elevation. At higher elevations temperatures are lower, so this rule predicts that larger animals live in cooler environments (Pincheira-Donoso et al, 2008). However, Bergmann’s rule has only been shown in mammals and birds, but not necessarily for reptiles (Ashton e al, 2003). Only about 75 percent of ectotherms conform to Bergmann’s rule, however this number is under scrutiny and is believed to be lower (Pincheira-Donoso et al, 2008). In other cases, scaled reptiles known as …show more content…
This leads to the question, if more lizard species were observed in Krutch gardens, would they all have a positive Bergmann’s cline, or would they have a reversed cline as in the case of S. graciosus? Pursuing a study where more species were observed, with set time intervals throughout the day and with weights recorded would be valuable as well to confirm with increased certainty or to negate whether the different lizard species do exhibit a positive Bergmann’s cline. If possible, it would also be interesting to compare lizard species from Krutch gardens to lizard species of a higher elevation, such as Mt. Lemmon, to see if the same results are