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Factors influencing worldwide zoo collections of lizards, snakes, turtles and crocodiles: effect of conservation status, body size and their attractiveness to humans
Janovcová, Markéta ; Landová, Eva (advisor) ; Komárek, Stanislav (referee)
There is a large number of species existing in the world; each year, however, the number of the endangered ones rapidly increases. Nowadays, captive breeding becomes an option for their survival in refugees. Sufficient population with satisfactory breeding management gives hope for survival to the endangered species (in mid-term) or even possible future reintroduction to their natural habitat. WAZA is currently the world's leading association of worldwide zoos and similar breeding facilities. Because these institutions operate as a network to facilitate the exchange of reared individuals, for conservation purposes, their captive populations may be seen as one large population characterized by its size, i.e., the total number of individuals. Such view is currently recognized by many conservationists as the so-called concept of Noah's Ark. The space on the Ark is limited, therefore it is needed to heed the characteristics of the species aboard to maximize the conservation potential. Many factors influence the presence of species in zoological gardens. Following previous studies we selected some factors that may be important, i.e., body lenght, taxonomy, and IUCN status. Analysis of these factors among the main reptile clades shall reveal the pattern of reptile composition in worldwide zoos. One of the factors...
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Juvenile coloration of lizards
Bauerová, Anna ; Frynta, Daniel (advisor) ; Rehák, Ivan (referee)
This work summarizes the current knowledge about the coloration of the lizards - the mechanism of colour creation, to color (pigments and structural colors) and hormonal influence on the body colour. It deals with the possible functions of the coloration (antipredator, social, thermoregulation) and its creation. Further it is an overview of the works about juvenile coloration that deal with hypotheses about the function which the juvenile coloration in lizards performs. There are also mechanisms of juvenile coloration and influencing factors mentioned. The thesis includes an experimental part dealing with various coloration characters of juvenile and adult Eublepharidae. We chose several characters: striped tail of the juveniles, striped body of the juveniles, light stripe on the head of the juveniles, striped tail of the adults, striped body of the adults, light stripe on the head of the adults. On several phylogenetic trees we evaluated whether these are the derived characters. After comparing the trees it turned out that in the case of juvenile coloration it is probably an ancestral character. In the case of adult pattern we have not reached a clear conclusion. Key words: juvenile coloration, ontogenetic color change, lizards
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Territoriality in lizards
Chmelař, Jan ; Rehák, Ivan (advisor) ; Veselý, Milan (referee)
Territoriality in lizads Jan Chmelař Abstract : Territoriality is a widely discussed phenomenon occuring among all groups of vertebrates on intraspecific level. Nevertheless, lizards occupy a prominent position due to a nearly endless variability in forms of territorial behaviour on the levels of higher taxons, species, populations and individuals. Examples could be systems of social dominance hierarchy, female territoriality or interspecific territoriality. Importance of territoriality is obvious as a way of reproduction control and exclusive usage of space and resources and has a positive impact on individuals that are able to defend their territories. On the other hand, there is a higher exposure to predators and a cost in a form of depleted energy. One other thing is that it sometimes complicates efforts of conservational biologists by lowering genetic variability inside populations of endangered species. Key words: territoriality, social dominance, lizards, home range
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Evolution of sex chromosomes and karyotypes in the lizard clade Laterata
Buchbauerová, Lucie ; Kratochvíl, Lukáš (advisor) ; Šťáhlavský, František (referee)
The aim of this study was to summarize all what is known about the karyotype and about sex chromosomes in the lizard clade Laterata and to analyze this two gained datasets by means of a phylogeny. Karyotype represents a whole number of chromosomes in a cell and it is an important source of informations on how the genetic information in nucleus is organized and how it works along with the evolution. The Laterata clade consists of four big groups of squamate reptiles: Teiidae, Gymnophthalmidae, Amphisbaenia and Lacertidae. All the groups have a genotypic sex determination system (GSD) and some species within these clades posses sex chromosomes. If they are present, in Teiidae and Gymnophthalmidae it is the XY sex chromosome system which determines the sex of a specimen. On the other hand, in Amphisbaenia and Lacertidae it is the ZW system of sex determination. Sometimes the X1X1X2X2:X1X2Y or Z1Z1Z2Z2:Z1Z2W sex chromosome system occurs in Teiidae / Gymnophthalmidae or in Lacertidae, respectively. The phylogenetical analysis was performed in Mesquite programme and the output from the analysis is a phylogenetical tree with two characters (number of chromosomes and the sex determination system) and the maximum parsimony counted for each of them. Then the interpretation was on the order and it is the main...
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Phylogeny of selected genera of geckos in the Mediterranean and adjacent regions
Červenka, Jan
Phylogeny of selected genera of geckos in the Mediterranean and adjacent regions Jan Červenka Ph.D. thesis Abstract This Ph.D. thesis is composed of three published articles and one manuscript, and is focused on the phylogenetic relationships of selected species of geckos from the Mediterranean and surrounding areas. The group of geckos of interest shares the common characteristic of an absence of adhesive lamellas on their toes. Historically, it was assumed that these species were closely related. Molecular-phylogenetic approaches were used in order to reveal the phylogenetic relationships within this group, especially using the sequential data from mitochondrial genes. Morphological characteristics commonly used in lizards were studied in connection with the ecology of the group. This thesis provides the first more detailed view of the phylogeny of the studied species. The results show that the genus Cyrtopodion, previously considered as monophyletic, in fact is not monophyletic as the genera Bunopus and Agamura represent its inner groups. Mediodactylus, the subgenus of Cyrtopodion, forms monophylum but is not closely related to the other members of the genus and so was reclassified as the independent genus. The enigmatic and yet so far very poorly studied genus Carinatogecko was discovered to be the...
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Energetic costs of tail autotomy and regeneration in reptiles
Píchová, Veronika ; Starostová, Zuzana (advisor) ; Frýdlová, Petra (referee)
Most reptile species have the ability to voluntarily cast off their tail, known as autotomy, followed by tail regeneration, which is used as an antipredatory mechanism. In spite of this being a successful ecological adaptation, the individual with its tail cast off is often influenced negatively, which includes increased probability of predation, lower locomotion capabilities, lower immunity or a change in its social standing. Last but not least, casting off the tail and the following regeneration may distinctively influence the energy of the individual, either directly through the loss of fat reserve, usually located in the tail itself, or because the regeneration of lost tissue demands a lot of energy and often requires relocation of energy at the expense of other processes. Autotomy and regeneration of the tail may thus influence important traits of physiological processes such as body growth or body mass, reproductive capabilities or metabolism intensity. The influence of autotomy on these aspects of an individual's life has been a studies topic in the last few years, but conclusions vary. The goal of this thesis is a brief summary of information about the mechanism of caudal autotomy and regeneration and also summarize contemporary knowledge about energy costs connected to autotomy and...
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Factors influencing worldwide zoo collections of lizards, snakes, turtles and crocodiles: effect of conservation status, body size and their attractiveness to humans
Janovcová, Markéta ; Landová, Eva (advisor) ; Komárek, Stanislav (referee)
There is a large number of species existing in the world; each year, however, the number of the endangered ones rapidly increases. Nowadays, captive breeding becomes an option for their survival in refugees. Sufficient population with satisfactory breeding management gives hope for survival to the endangered species (in mid-term) or even possible future reintroduction to their natural habitat. WAZA is currently the world's leading association of worldwide zoos and similar breeding facilities. Because these institutions operate as a network to facilitate the exchange of reared individuals, for conservation purposes, their captive populations may be seen as one large population characterized by its size, i.e., the total number of individuals. Such view is currently recognized by many conservationists as the so-called concept of Noah's Ark. The space on the Ark is limited, therefore it is needed to heed the characteristics of the species aboard to maximize the conservation potential. Many factors influence the presence of species in zoological gardens. Following previous studies we selected some factors that may be important, i.e., body lenght, taxonomy, and IUCN status. Analysis of these factors among the main reptile clades shall reveal the pattern of reptile composition in worldwide zoos. One of the factors...
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Evolution of sex chromosomes and karyotypes in the lizard clade Laterata
Buchbauerová, Lucie ; Kratochvíl, Lukáš (advisor) ; Šťáhlavský, František (referee)
The aim of this study was to summarize all what is known about the karyotype and about sex chromosomes in the lizard clade Laterata and to analyze this two gained datasets by means of a phylogeny. Karyotype represents a whole number of chromosomes in a cell and it is an important source of informations on how the genetic information in nucleus is organized and how it works along with the evolution. The Laterata clade consists of four big groups of squamate reptiles: Teiidae, Gymnophthalmidae, Amphisbaenia and Lacertidae. All the groups have a genotypic sex determination system (GSD) and some species within these clades pones sex chromosomes. If they are present, in Teiidae and Gymnophthalmidae it is the XY sex chromosome system which determines the sex of a specimen. On the other hand, in Amphisbaenia and Lacertidae it is the ZW system of sex determination. Sometimes the X1X1X2X2:X1X2Y or Z1Z1Z2Z2:Z1Z2W sex chromosome system occurs in Teiidae / Gymnophthalmidae or in Lacertidae, respectively. The phylogenetical analysis was performed in Mesquite programme and the output from the analysis is a phylogenetical tree with two characters (number of chromosomes and the sex determination system) and the maximum parsimony counted for each of them. Then the interpretation was in the order and it is the main...
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Variability in vertebrae numbers and the evolution of body size in geckos
Vohralík, Martin ; Kratochvíl, Lukáš (advisor) ; Frýdlová, Petra (referee)
In ectothermic vertebrates, body segmentation is often linked to final body length. This thesis focuses on the realtionship between final body length, ecological (temperature) and genetic (sex) factors and the count of body vertebrae in the Paroedura geckos, closely focusing on the Paroedura picta species. Individuals of this species were exposed to three different constant rearing temperatures, where they achieved different final sizes. We tested the correlation between the number of presacral vertebrae and final body size and the effect of rearing temperature and sex on the vertebrae number. The data point to high genetic and enviromental canalisation of the vertebrae count. Large conservation in the number of presacral vertebae were found even across the genus Paroedura regardless of the considerable evolutionary changes in body size. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
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Phylogeny of selected genera of geckos in the Mediterranean and adjacent regions
Červenka, Jan
Phylogeny of selected genera of geckos in the Mediterranean and adjacent regions Jan Červenka Ph.D. thesis Abstract This Ph.D. thesis is composed of three published articles and one manuscript, and is focused on the phylogenetic relationships of selected species of geckos from the Mediterranean and surrounding areas. The group of geckos of interest shares the common characteristic of an absence of adhesive lamellas on their toes. Historically, it was assumed that these species were closely related. Molecular-phylogenetic approaches were used in order to reveal the phylogenetic relationships within this group, especially using the sequential data from mitochondrial genes. Morphological characteristics commonly used in lizards were studied in connection with the ecology of the group. This thesis provides the first more detailed view of the phylogeny of the studied species. The results show that the genus Cyrtopodion, previously considered as monophyletic, in fact is not monophyletic as the genera Bunopus and Agamura represent its inner groups. Mediodactylus, the subgenus of Cyrtopodion, forms monophylum but is not closely related to the other members of the genus and so was reclassified as the independent genus. The enigmatic and yet so far very poorly studied genus Carinatogecko was discovered to be the...
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