| ectoparasite and hemoparasite infection in a diverse temperate lizard assemblage at macraes flat, south island, new zealand. | a lizard assemblage at macraes flat, new zealand, comprising the common skinks oligosoma maccanni and oligosoma nigriplantare polychroma, the endangered species oligosoma grande and oligosoma otagense, and the common gecko hoplodactylus maculatus, was studied to determine the prevalence of ectoparasites and hemoparasites. the mites odontacarus lygosomae and ophionyssus scincorum infected all oligosoma spp. only, and the mite neotrombicula naultini infected only h. maculatus. the hemoparasite hep ... | 2004 | 15715216 |
| phylogeography of two new zealand lizards: mccann's skink (oligosoma maccanni) and the brown skink (o. zelandicum). | the new zealand skink fauna has proven to be an ideal taxonomic group in which to examine the impact of climatic and geological processes on the evolution of the new zealand biota since the pliocene. here we examine the phylogeography of mccann's skink (oligosoma maccanni) in order to gain insight into the relative contribution of pliocene and pleistocene processes on patterns of genetic structure in the south island biota, and investigate the phylogeography of the brown skink (o. zelandicum) to ... | 2008 | 18558496 |
| unusual change in activity pattern at cool temperature in a reptile (sphenodon punctatus). | animals that can be active both during day and night offer unique opportunities to identify factors that influence activity pattern. by experimental manipulations of temperatures under constant photoperiod, we aimed to determine if emergence, activity and thermoregulatory behaviour of juvenile tuatara (sphenodon punctatus) varied at different temperatures (20°c, 12°c and 5°c). to help clarify its activity pattern, we compared tuatara with two lizard species endemic of the south island of new zea ... | 2014 | 24802147 |
| effects of early postnatal environment on phenotype and survival of a lizard. | nutritional and thermal regimes experienced early in life can strongly influence offspring quality and ultimately adult life histories, especially in ectotherms. however, the importance of the interaction between diet and temperature during postnatal development and the effect on offspring quality are unknown. we compared offspring quality (size, shape, speed, behavior, and survival) of juvenile mccann's skinks (oligosoma maccanni) housed outdoors under variable thermal conditions (under shelter ... | 2012 | 21979822 |
| thermal dependence of locomotor performance in two cool-temperate lizards. | temperate-zone ectotherms experience varying or very low ambient temperatures and may have difficulty in attaining preferred body temperatures. thus, adaptations to reduce the thermal dependence of physiological processes may be present. we measured the optimal temperature range for sprint speed and compared it with the selected body temperatures (t (sel)) of two sympatric, cool-temperate lizards: the diurnal skink oligosoma maccanni and the primarily nocturnal gecko woodworthia (previously hopl ... | 2011 | 21547573 |
| does gestational temperature or prenatal sex ratio influence development of sexual dimorphism in a viviparous skink? | prenatal sex ratio (through exposure to hormones from siblings in utero) can influence sexually dimorphic traits of many mammals; but research on viviparous reptiles has contrasting outcomes, which have yet to be resolved. the thermal environment experienced during gestation has a strong effect on the phenotype of reptiles, but whether this thermal effect overrides that of prenatal sex ratio has yet to be explored. we experimentally investigated whether the gestation temperature, or litter sex r ... | 2011 | 21319306 |
| pregnancy reduces critical thermal maximum, but not voluntary thermal maximum, in a viviparous skink. | upper thermal limits are commonly measured in ectotherms; however, the effects of life-history stages, and in particular pregnancy in viviparous species, are rarely considered. in this study, we examined whether two measures of upper thermal tolerance varied among life-history stages in a viviparous new zealand skink (oligosoma maccanni). first, we measured voluntary thermal maxima (vtmax) and critical thermal maxima (ctmax) for four groups: late-pregnant females, newly postpartum females, males ... | 2019 | 31493184 |