• Login
    View Item 
    •   Home
    • Brock Theses
    • Masters Theses
    • M.Sc. Biological Sciences
    • View Item
    •   Home
    • Brock Theses
    • Masters Theses
    • M.Sc. Biological Sciences
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Browse

    All of BrockUCommunitiesPublication DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionPublication DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsProfilesView

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Statistics

    Display statistics

    The Physiological and Behavioural Consequences of Reduced Scalation in Captive-bred Phenotypes of the Bearded Dragon (Pogona vitticeps Ahl 1926)

    • CSV
    • RefMan
    • EndNote
    • BibTex
    • RefWorks
    Thumbnail
    Name:
    Brock_Sakich_Nicholas_2020.pdf
    Size:
    35.47Mb
    Format:
    PDF
    Download
    Author
    Sakich, Nicholas
    Keyword
    reptile, water, temperature, ultraviolet, scale
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10464/14870
    Abstract
    Lepidosaurs as a group are known for their tough, scaled integument and low rates of evaporative water loss. Whether or not there is a causal relationship between the two has been a contentious issue. There also remains the question of whether the lepidosaur scale forms a barrier to ultraviolet (UV) light. Thirdly, there is evidence to suggest that rate of evaporative water loss influences behavioural thermoregulation in lepidosaurs. Lepidosaurs with higher rates of evaporative water loss should be expected to choose cooler temperatures than lepidosaurs with lower rates of evaporative water loss in order to reduce water loss. To investigate these ideas, I used three captive-occurring phenotypes of the bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps Ahl 1926): Wild Type, animals exhibiting scales of reduced prominence (“Leatherback”), and scaleless animals (“Silkback”). I a priori expected that Silkbacks would have the highest rates of evaporative water loss, the lowest thermal preferences, and the lowest UV light intensity preferences. By the same token, I expected Wild Types to be at the opposite end of the spectrum from Silkbacks for each of these measurements, and I expected Leatherbacks to be intermediate between the two. I used respirometry to measure the animals’ rates of evaporative water loss, a thermal gradient to measure their thermal preferences, and a UV light intensity gradient to measure their UV light intensity preferences. Silkbacks on average lost water at about twice the rate that Wild Types did, with Leatherbacks being intermediate in their water loss rates. The three phenotypes did not visibly differ in their thermal preference. Silkbacks had lower UV light intensity preferences than either Leatherbacks or Wild Types. These results suggest that the lepidosaur scale is indeed a barrier to evaporative water loss and suggest that it is also a barrier to UV light. However, the lack of obvious difference in thermal preference suggests that thermal preference in bearded dragons is not plastic enough to respond to a phenotype that increases the animal’s rate of evaporative water loss. In addition to answering basic questions about lepidosaur biology, my data have relevance to the fields of animal welfare and conservation.
    Collections
    M.Sc. Biological Sciences

    entitlement

     
    DSpace software (copyright © 2002 - 2023)  DuraSpace
    Quick Guide | Contact Us
    Open Repository is a service operated by 
    Atmire NV
     

    Export search results

    The export option will allow you to export the current search results of the entered query to a file. Different formats are available for download. To export the items, click on the button corresponding with the preferred download format.

    By default, clicking on the export buttons will result in a download of the allowed maximum amount of items.

    To select a subset of the search results, click "Selective Export" button and make a selection of the items you want to export. The amount of items that can be exported at once is similarly restricted as the full export.

    After making a selection, click one of the export format buttons. The amount of items that will be exported is indicated in the bubble next to export format.