A guide to incubate eggs of Tropidurus lizards under laboratory conditions

Author(s)

Rossigalli-Costa, Nathalia ^[1] ; de Barros, Fabio Cury ^{[1, 2, 3]} ; Cipriano, Ana Paula ^[1] ; Prandini, Luisa Prado ^[1] ; de Andrade, Thayna Medeiros ^[1] ; Rothier, Priscila S. ^{[1, 4]} ; Lofeu, Leandro ^{[5, 1]} ; Brandt, Renata ^{[6, 1]} ; Kohlsdorf, Tiana ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Dept Biol, FFCLRP, Ave Bandeirantes, BR-14040901 Ribeirao Preto, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Fed Sao Paulo, ICAQF, Dept Ecol & Evolutionary Biol, Rua Prof Artur Riedel, Diadema - Brazil

^[3] Univ Estate Minas Gerais UEMG Passos, Av Juca Stockier 1130, Passos - Brazil

^[4] Museum Natl Hist Nat, Dept Adaptat Vivant, 55 Rue Buffon, Paris - France

^[5] Univ Calif San Diego, Scripps Inst Oceanog, La Jolla, CA 92093 - USA

^[6] Sci North, Sudbury, ON - Canada

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY PART B-MOLECULAR AND DEVELOPMENTAL EVOLUTION; v. 336, n. 7 SEP 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Studies in Evo-Devo benefit from the use of a variety of organisms, as comparative approaches provide a better understanding of Biodiversity and Evolution. Standardized protocols to incubate eggs and manipulate embryo development enable postulation of additional species as suitable biological systems for research in the field. In the past decades, vertebrate lineages such as Squamata (lizards, snakes, and amphisbaenians) emerged as crucial study systems for addressing topics as diverse as phenotypic evolution and climate change. However, protocols for maintaining gravid females and incubating eggs in the lab under experimental conditions are available to only a few squamate species. This resource article presents a simple incubation guide that standardizes conditions to maintain embryos of Tropidurus catalanensis (Squamata: Tropiduridae) under different experimental conditions, manipulating relevant environmental factors like temperature and humidity. We identified associated effects relating the egg incubation condition to developmental stage, incubation time, hatching success, and resulting morphotypes. Temperature and humidity play a key role in development and require attention when establishing the experimental design. Current literature comprises information for Tropidurus lizards that ponders how general in Squamata are the ecomorphs originally described for Anolis. Studies evaluating phenotypic effects of developmental environments suggest plasticity in some of the traits that characterize the ecomorphological associations described for this family. We expect that this incubation guide encourages future studies using Tropidurus lizards to address Evo-Devo questions. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 13/14125-0 - Integrative analysis of sexual dimorphism in lizards: morphology, functional significance and selection
• Grantee: Renata Brandt Nunes
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• FAPESP's process: 15/07650-6 - Ecology, evolution and development (Eco-Evo-Devo) in the Brazilian herpetofauna
• Grantee: Tiana Kohlsdorf
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants