Effects of pregnancy on locomotor performance: an experimental study on lizards
Effects of pregnancy on locomotor performance: an experimental study on lizards
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DOI：
10.1007/s00442-003-1281-9
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发表时间：
2003-05
期刊：
影响因子：
2.7
通讯作者：
R. Shine
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
R. Shine
在许多动物中，怀孕与运动能力下降有关，但我们不知道这种相关性在多大程度上是由简单的身体负担引起的，而不是与怀孕相关的生理变化，或者是同时影响生殖投资和运动速度的混杂变量（如季节或雌性体型）。为了确定负重对运动的因果影响，我们需要通过实验来操纵负重的大小。将无菌液注射到84只园石龙的腹膜腔中，结果表明，速度随负荷的增加而降低。负重相当于其体重25%的蜥蜴跑得要慢15%左右，这反映了该种群的妊娠蜥蜴的情况。因此，简单的身体负担似乎是这些动物繁殖运动成本的主要原因。在治疗前后，蜥蜴的性别、体型和形状对其跑步能力几乎没有影响，但速度较快的蜥蜴在负重后表现出比速度较慢的蜥蜴更大的性能下降。
Pregnancy is associated with reduced locomotor performance in many types of animals, but we do not know to what degree this correlation is caused by simple physical burdening, versus physiological changes associated with pregnancy, or to confounding variables (such as season or female body size) that simultaneously influence both reproductive investment and locomotor speeds. To identify causal effects of burden on locomotion, we need to experimentally manipulate the size of the load being carried. Injection of sterile fluid into the peritoneal cavities of 84 garden skinks (Lampropholis guichenoti) showed that speeds decreased with increasing burdens. Lizards with a burden equivalent to 25% of their body mass ran about 15% slower, mirroring the situation seen in gravid lizards of this population. Thus, simple physical burdening appears to be the primary causal component of the locomotor cost of reproduction within these animals. A lizard's sex, body size and shape had little effect on its running ability either before or after treatment, but faster lizards showed a greater performance decrement after burdening than did their slower conspecifics.