Reproductive biology of lizards from Patagonia Argentina: physiological and behavioral adaptations to cold and harsh environments

BORETTO, JORGELINA; FERNÁNDEZ. JIMENA; CABEZAS CARTES, FACUNDO; MEDINA, MARLIN; IBARGÜENGOYTÍA, NORA

Lizards of Patagonia: Diversity, Systematics, Biogeography and Biology of the Reptiles at the End of the World

Springer International Publishing AG

Lugar: Cham; Año: 2020; p. 335 - 371

In this chapter we provide a detailed and integrated review of the reproductive biology and life-history traits related to reproduction of lizards that inhabit the cold and harsh environments of Patagonia, Argentina. Lizards from the genus Liolaemus, Phymaturus, and Homonota have shown distinctive life-history traits, such as the retention of eggs in the oviducts during most of embryogenesis, evolutionary transitions from oviparity to viviparity, adaptive synchronization of parturition with benign environmental conditions, signs of parental care, plasticity in the timing of reproductive events, prolonged-multiennial reproductive cycles in females, interspecific variability in male reproductive cycles, and physiological mechanisms in males to synchronize with female cycles, among others. We discuss the adaptation of reproductive cycles to the energetic constraints imposed by environmental conditions of Patagonia, as the basic knowledge for the understanding of how reproductive physiology could be affected by environmental stressors, and for conservation strategies to be successful.