Estudio morfo-funcional en liolaeminos: la fuerza de sujeción al sustrato.

TULLI MARIA JOSÉ; ABDALA VIRGINIA; CRUZ FELIX

Buenos Aires

Congreso; XI Congreso Argentino de Herpetología; 2010

The central tenet of ecomorphological theory holds that different ecological requirements lead to different organismal designs (morphology). Here, we studied the relationships between performance (interlocking grasping) and forelimb morphological traits in species of lizards that exploit different structural habitats in a phylogenetic context. The performance (measured by the maximum force of clinging to substrate) was measured on different substrate types. After phylogenetically informed analyses, we found that arboreal and saxicolous species showed stronger resistance to mechanical traction in all substrates when compared to generalists and sand dweller lizards. These species showed a positive relationship between forelimb dimensions (humerus length and length of claw of toe 5) and maximum force exerted, on the contrary, hand width, claw height of digits III and IV and claw length of toe 4 showed a negative relationship. Additionally we observed a partial positive correlation between claw height and maximal cling force on rough surfaces, but not on smooth surfaces.