Energetics in Liolaemini lizards: implications of a small body size and ecological conservatism

CRUZ FB; ANTENUCCI CD; LUNA F; ABDALA CS; VEGA LE

JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY B-BIOCHEMICAL SYSTEMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL PHYSIOLOGY

SPRINGER HEIDELBERG

Año: 2011 vol. 181 p. 373 - 382

0174-1578

Liolaemini lizards occur in southern South America in a variety of dietary habits across a broad latitudinal and altitudinal distribution. We studied standard metabolic rates of 19 Liolaemini species and analyzed these data using both conventional and phylogenetically informed statistics. Oxygen consumption showed a significant and positive relationship with body mass (SMR = 0.109*body mass0.876±0.023), with a higher slope than that expected by the three-quarter power law model. After phylogenetically informed and conventional analyses, no significant differences in metabolic rates were recovered relative to diet or elevation. We hypothesize that small body size, ecological conservatism and physiological compensation may play a role in the lack of differences in metabolic rates observed among these lizards.