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Tails of reproduction: Regeneration leads to increased reproductive investment
Author(s) -
Beatty Abby E.,
Mote David M.,
Schwartz Tonia S.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of experimental zoology part a: ecological and integrative physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.834
H-Index - 11
eISSN - 2471-5646
pISSN - 2471-5638
DOI - 10.1002/jez.2472
Subject(s) - autotomy , reproduction , biology , hatchling , regeneration (biology) , life history theory , lizard , predation , adaptation (eye) , ecology , zoology , life history , microbiology and biotechnology , neuroscience , hatching
Trade‐offs between life‐history traits are due to limited resources or constraints in the regulation of genetic and physiological networks. Tail autotomy, with subsequent regeneration, is a common anti‐predation mechanism in lizards and is predicted to trade‐off with life‐history traits, such as reproduction. We utilize the brown anole lizard with its unusual reproductive pattern of single‐egg clutches every 7–10 days to test for a trade‐off in reproductive investment over 8 weeks of tail regeneration on a limited diet. In contrast to predictions, we found that investing in tissue regeneration had a positive effect on reproduction in terms of egg size (11.7% relative to controls) and hatchling size (11.5% relative to controls), and no effect on egg number or survival, with the increase in reproduction starting at peak regeneration. We discuss mechanistic hypotheses that the process of regeneration may cause increased energetic efficiency or utilized shared physiological pathways with reproductive investment.