A study into the sexual dimorphism of head length in comparison to body length in the male and female Tenerife Lizard Gallotia galloti
Introduction
The Canary Islands archipelago is comprised a chain of volcanic islands in the Atlantic Ocean. The largest of these islands being Tenerife with an area of 2,058km2and is located 270km of the coast of northwest Africa (Thorpe and Baez, 1987).
The Tenerife lizard Gallotia galloti are an endemic species to the Canary Islands (Bohórquez-Alonso et al., 2011) and can commonly be found in many areas of Tenerife from sea levels to 3,000m (Miras, 2009). They occupy ecologically diverse habitats (Bohórquez-Alonso et al., 2011), but are mostly found in open, rocky and scrubland habitats and can be commonly found basking on stone walls within the area (Miras, 2009). Whilst mostly active in the early morning, this heliothermic lizard is less active at midday during the hottest hours (Bohórquez-Alonso et al., 2011).
There are geographic variations of the …show more content…
3). These results are conclusive with those done in previous studies which also show that there is a significant difference between male and female head sizes (Molina-Borja, 1997) and that this species shows sexual dimorphism in their head shape and size (Herrel et al., 1999). It has suggested from previous studies that their bite force is linked with their head size and that males have a larger bite force than females (Herrel et al., 1999). This could be due to the males requiring a stronger bite force for combat between other males (Carothers, 1984) as it has been shown that the head size is an important factor in showing the dominance of a male for this species (Huyghe, 2005). Studies have also shown that the difference in head size could be due to the males being able to eat larger prey (Carothers,
Introduction
The Canary Islands archipelago is comprised a chain of volcanic islands in the Atlantic Ocean. The largest of these islands being Tenerife with an area of 2,058km2and is located 270km of the coast of northwest Africa (Thorpe and Baez, 1987).
The Tenerife lizard Gallotia galloti are an endemic species to the Canary Islands (Bohórquez-Alonso et al., 2011) and can commonly be found in many areas of Tenerife from sea levels to 3,000m (Miras, 2009). They occupy ecologically diverse habitats (Bohórquez-Alonso et al., 2011), but are mostly found in open, rocky and scrubland habitats and can be commonly found basking on stone walls within the area (Miras, 2009). Whilst mostly active in the early morning, this heliothermic lizard is less active at midday during the hottest hours (Bohórquez-Alonso et al., 2011).
There are geographic variations of the …show more content…
3). These results are conclusive with those done in previous studies which also show that there is a significant difference between male and female head sizes (Molina-Borja, 1997) and that this species shows sexual dimorphism in their head shape and size (Herrel et al., 1999). It has suggested from previous studies that their bite force is linked with their head size and that males have a larger bite force than females (Herrel et al., 1999). This could be due to the males requiring a stronger bite force for combat between other males (Carothers, 1984) as it has been shown that the head size is an important factor in showing the dominance of a male for this species (Huyghe, 2005). Studies have also shown that the difference in head size could be due to the males being able to eat larger prey (Carothers,