Chemical communication in Teiidae lizards: chemistry and behavior

• Grant number: 17/19640-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: January 29, 2018
• End date: July 28, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Animal Behavior
• Principal Investigator: Miguel Trefaut Urbano Rodrigues
• Grantee: Carolina Nisa Ramiro
• Supervisor: Jose Martin
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN), Spain
• Associated to the scholarship: 15/12841-5 - Chemical characterization of epidermal, cloacal and preanal and femoral glands secretions of the Brazilian lizards species of Teiidae Family (Squamata), BP.DR

Abstract

Chemical signaling is the most widely distributed and primitive form of communication and it is recognized that chemical communication plays and essential role in several social behaviors of Squamata (lizards and snakes). The data about chemical communication in Squamata are basically of two distinct types: chemical characterization of the secretions and behavioral responses to these chemicals. Femoral and pre-anal glands are the principal source of pheromones in lizards and the chemical composition of these secretions has already been studied for some species of a few families and is clear that it is formed by proteins and lipids. However, data about chemical communication for Brazilian lizards are rare. As far as known the only data for a lizard that occurs in Brazil is the one about Salvator merianae. The taxonomic diversity, its occurrence in all Brazilian ecosystems and the availability of a recent phylogeny make the Teiidae lizards ideal for the start of the study of chemical communication in Brazilian lizards. The main objective of this project is to analyze chemical samples of Teiidae and to learn how to perform behavioral experiments with the researcher PhD Jose Martín.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

RAMIRO, CAROLINA NISA; RODRIGUEZ-RUIZ, GONZALO; LOPEZ, PILAR; DA SILVA JUNIOR, PEDRO ISMAEL; RODRIGUES, MIGUEL TREFAUT; MARTIN, JOSE. Chemosensory discrimination of male age by female Psammodromus algirus lizards based on femoral secretions and feces. Ethology, v. 125, n. 11, AUG 2019. (17/19640-0)