TY - JOUR
T1 - Reproduction and sexual dimorphism in two populations of the polymorphic spiny lizard Sceloporus minor from Hidalgo, México
AU - Ramírez-Bautista, Aurelio
AU - Stephenson, Barry P.
AU - Serrano Muñoz, Carmen
AU - Cruz-Elizalde, Raciel
AU - Hernández-Salinas, Uriel
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
PY - 2014/10/1
Y1 - 2014/10/1
N2 - Male-biased sexual dimorphism is extensive in New World spiny lizards (Sceloporus: Phrynosomatidae) and is particularly prominent in the polymorphic minor lizard Sceloporus minor. However, the possible relationship between patterns of sexual dimorphism and gonadal development is little known for most species. In this study, we explored aspects of sexual dimorphism in noncolor morphological traits in S. minor and characterized the gonadal cycle in males and females from each of two sites (El Enzuelado and La Manzana) in Hidalgo, México, differing in key ecological aspects linked to life-history trait expression in other lizards. Males were generally larger than females in each population and expressed larger forms of several other morphological traits, although not all comparisons attained statistical significance. Both sexes attained reproductive maturity at a larger size in El Enzuelado relative to La Manzana, and females from El Enzuelado had larger litters. Gonadal cycles differed substantially between the two populations and suggest that reproductive activity of males and females was synchronous at El Enzuelado and asynchronous at La Manzana, an unusual pattern. Geographic variation in sex-specific responses to environmental variables may be at least partly responsible for the exceptional species diversity of spiny lizards in México.
AB - Male-biased sexual dimorphism is extensive in New World spiny lizards (Sceloporus: Phrynosomatidae) and is particularly prominent in the polymorphic minor lizard Sceloporus minor. However, the possible relationship between patterns of sexual dimorphism and gonadal development is little known for most species. In this study, we explored aspects of sexual dimorphism in noncolor morphological traits in S. minor and characterized the gonadal cycle in males and females from each of two sites (El Enzuelado and La Manzana) in Hidalgo, México, differing in key ecological aspects linked to life-history trait expression in other lizards. Males were generally larger than females in each population and expressed larger forms of several other morphological traits, although not all comparisons attained statistical significance. Both sexes attained reproductive maturity at a larger size in El Enzuelado relative to La Manzana, and females from El Enzuelado had larger litters. Gonadal cycles differed substantially between the two populations and suggest that reproductive activity of males and females was synchronous at El Enzuelado and asynchronous at La Manzana, an unusual pattern. Geographic variation in sex-specific responses to environmental variables may be at least partly responsible for the exceptional species diversity of spiny lizards in México.
KW - Gonads
KW - Life histories
KW - Minor lizard
KW - Phrynosomatidae
KW - Reproductive cycles
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84919859713&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/azo.12037
DO - 10.1111/azo.12037
M3 - Artículo
SN - 0001-7272
VL - 95
SP - 397
EP - 408
JO - Acta Zoologica
JF - Acta Zoologica
IS - 4
ER -