Research

The energetic perspective of tissue regeneration: a case study of tail re-growth in lizards

The ability to voluntarily shed body parts as a strategy to escape predation is known in a wide range of animals. One of the most studied examples of this defensive tactics is the tail autotomy in lizards. The ability of self-amputation is a highly controlled process and requires specific physiological and morphological adaptations. The other side of autotomy is the capability of the lost part to regenerate. Tail autotomy can happen in any life stage of an individual, but the consequences for young growing individual may dramatically differ from that of adults. This project is focusing on metabolic cost of tail regeneration and its effect on somatic growth.

Research team: Zuzana Starostová, Lukáš Kratochvíl (Charles University, Department of Ecology, Czech Republic), Lumír Gvoždík (Institute of Vertebrate Biology, AS CR, Czech Republic)

Starostová Z., Gvoždík L. & Kratochvíl L.: An energetic perspective on tissue regeneration: the costs of tail autotomy in growing geckos. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A, 206: 82-86. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpa.2017.01.015

Comparative analysis of evaporative water loss in lizards

Maintaining appropriate water balance is crucial for terrestrial animals and it is closely connected with the ability to colonize various habitats. In squamate reptiles, the major proportion of water loss can be attributed to cutaneous and respiratory water loss. Accordingly, evaporative water loss might be influenced by body size, standard metabolic rate and morphology of scales covering the body. In this project we are examining the association between these traits and evaporative water loss in different gecko species.

Research team: Zuzana Starostová, Martin Hlubeň, Tereza Myslíková, Lukáš Kratochvíl (Charles University, Department of Ecology, Czech Republic), Lumír Gvoždík (Institute of Vertebrate Biology, AS CR, Czech Republic)

Hlubeň M., Kratochvíl L., Gvoždík L. & Starostová Z. (2021). Ontogeny, phylogeny, and mechanisms of adaptive changes in evaporative water loss in geckos. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 34: 1290–1301. https://doi.org/10.1111/jeb.13891

Thermal influence on life-history decisions and physiology in ectotherms

In ectotherms, environmental temperature is the most prominent abiotic factor that modulates life-history traits. We use the Madagascar ground gecko (Paroedura picta) to study the influence of environmental temperatures on body size and other life-history and physiological traits such as egg size, growth rate, developmental rate or rate of clutch production. The main goal is to uncover relationships among particular traits within each thermal environment and across temperatures and search for proximate mechanism of life-history strategies such as thermally-specific gene expression, different levels of steroid hormones and differences in energy assimilation and allocation. Studying thermally-induced phenotypic plasticity in can help us to estimate impact of global warming on physiology, life-history and ecology of ectotherms in general.

Research team: Zuzana Starostová, Lukáš Kubička, Lukáš Kratochvíl (Charles University, Department of Ecology, Czech Republic)

Starostová Z., Angilletta M.J., Kubička L. & Kratochvíl L. (2012): Thermal dependence of reproductive allocation in a tropical lizard. Journal of Thermal Biology 37: 159-163.

Kubička L., Starostová Z. & Kratochvíl L. (2012): Temperature-dependent rate of clutch production in a tropical lizard (Paroedura picta: Gekkonidae): Intraspecific test of the Metabolic Theory of Ecology. Journal of Thermal Biology 37: 179-184.

Starostová Z., Kubička L. & Kratochvíl L. (2010): Macroevolutionary pattern of sexual size dimorphism in geckos corresponds to intraspecific temperature-induced variation. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 23: 670-677.

Weiser H., Starostová Z., Kubička L. & Kratochvíl L. (2012): Overlap of female reproductive cycles explains shortened interclutch interval in a lizard with invariant clutch size (Squamata: Gekkonidae: Paroedura picta). Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 85: 491-498.

Meter B., Starostová Z., Kubička L. &  Kratochvíl L. (2020): The limits of the energetical perspective: Life-history decisions in lizard growth. Evolutionary Ecology 34: 469–481.

Testing the role of cell size variation in body size changes and intra- and interspecific metabolic allometries

While metabolism is a fundamental feature of all organisms, the causes of its scaling are not yet fully explained. In this project we are trying to uncover the role of cell size (red blood cell size) in shaping of metabolic rate scaling. More specifically, we are studying how variation in red blood cell size on both intra- and interspecific levels affects metabolic rate scaling in a monophyletic group of geckos (family Eublepharidae). These geckos exhibit large variation in body size among species, but we can also find considerable body size variation during ontogeny. So far our results show that variability in cell size could have important physiological consequences, such as a qualitatively different pattern of standard metabolic rate-body mass relationship.

Research team: Zuzana Starostová; Lukáš Kubička, Lukáš Kratochvíl (Charles University, Faculty of Science, Czech Republic); Jan Kozlowski (Institute of Environmental Sciences, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland); Marek Konarzewski (University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland)

Starostová Z., Kozlowski J., Konarzewski M. & Kratochvíl L. (2013): Ontogeny of metabolic rate and red blood cell size in eyelid geckos: Species follow different paths. PLoS ONE 8(5): e64715. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0064715.

Starostová Z., Kubička L., Kozlowski J., Konarzewski M. & Kratochvíl L. (2009): Cell size but not genome size affects scaling of metabolic rate in eyelid geckos. American Naturalist 174: E100-E105. and see Publications and our posters for more details.

Czarnoleski M., Labecka A.M., Starostová Z., Sikorska A., Bonda-Ostaszewska E, Woch K., Kubička L., Kratochvíl L. & Kozlowski J. (2017): Not all cells are equal: temperature and sex effects on the size of different cell types in the Madagascar ground gecko Paroedura picta. Biology Open 6: 1149-1154.
Starostová Z., Kratochvíl L. & Frynta D. (2005): Dwarf and giant geckos from the cellular perspective: The bigger the animal, the bigger its erythrocytes? Functional Ecology 19: 744-749.

Perspectives of captive populations of endangered reptiles: Genetic variation in two model species (Epicrates angulifer and Cyclura nubila)

In this project we studied genetic variability in Cuban rock iguana (Cyclura nubila nubila) – belonging to the largest native terrestrial herbivores of the West Indies and Cuban boa (Epicrates angulifer). In order to assess genetic variation in these two species we sequenced fragments of mitochondrial DNA in iguanas and boas from European Zoos and private breeders. The animals sampled represent founders and important representatives of the studbook population. For more details please click on our poster.

Research team: Zuzana Starostová, Ivana Hynková, Daniel Frynta (Charles University, Faculty of Science, Department of Zoology) and Ivan Rehák (Prague ZOO)

Starostová Z., Rehák I. & Frynta D. New haplotypes of Cyclura nubila nubila from Cuba changed the phylogenetic tree of rock iguanas: a challenge for conservation strategies? Amphibia-Reptilia: Amphibia-Reptilia 31:134-143.