TY - JOUR
T1 - Genders matters
T2 - Sexual differences in chemical signals of Liolaemus wiegmannii lizards (Iguania, Liolaemidae)
AU - García-Roa, Roberto
AU - Carreira, Santiago
AU - López, Pilar
AU - Martín, José
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank two anonymous reviewers for their useful comments. RGR benefited from a FPI grant number BES-2012-054387 . Financial support was provided by the projects MICIIN-CGL2011-24150/BOS and MINECO CGL2014-53523-P .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2016/12/1
Y1 - 2016/12/1
N2 - Males have traditionally been the focus of study when analyzing traits involved in communication. However, intraspecific interactions often imply both sexes as signals senders. Researches have shown the relevant role that chemical communication plays in lizards. However, the knowledge about the female scents is scarce. The aim of this paper is to characterize, by using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), the lipophilic fraction of precloacal gland secretions of adult males and females of the lizard Liolaemus wiegmannii and evaluate intersexual differences in composition and proportion of their chemical profiles. We identified 48 and 41 lipohilic compounds in males and females, respectively. The main compounds were steroids and waxy esters. We also found squalene, alcohols, aldehydes and carboxylic acids. Overall, we found significant differences between sexes with respect to the relative proportions of compounds. We also found differences in proportions of three of the five predominant compounds shared by both sexes (squalene, cholesta-3,5-dien and cholesta-2,4-dien). Our study describes that females of L. wiegmannii hold lipids in their precloacal secretions, which are further clearly different from those of males. Further researches are needed to understand the ecological implications of these sexual differences in precloacal secretion of L. wiegmannii.
AB - Males have traditionally been the focus of study when analyzing traits involved in communication. However, intraspecific interactions often imply both sexes as signals senders. Researches have shown the relevant role that chemical communication plays in lizards. However, the knowledge about the female scents is scarce. The aim of this paper is to characterize, by using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), the lipophilic fraction of precloacal gland secretions of adult males and females of the lizard Liolaemus wiegmannii and evaluate intersexual differences in composition and proportion of their chemical profiles. We identified 48 and 41 lipohilic compounds in males and females, respectively. The main compounds were steroids and waxy esters. We also found squalene, alcohols, aldehydes and carboxylic acids. Overall, we found significant differences between sexes with respect to the relative proportions of compounds. We also found differences in proportions of three of the five predominant compounds shared by both sexes (squalene, cholesta-3,5-dien and cholesta-2,4-dien). Our study describes that females of L. wiegmannii hold lipids in their precloacal secretions, which are further clearly different from those of males. Further researches are needed to understand the ecological implications of these sexual differences in precloacal secretion of L. wiegmannii.
KW - Chemoreception
KW - Female signals
KW - Lipids
KW - Lizards
KW - Uruguay
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84985041048&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.bse.2016.08.011
DO - 10.1016/j.bse.2016.08.011
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84985041048
SN - 0305-1978
VL - 69
SP - 108
EP - 114
JO - Biochemical Systematics and Ecology
JF - Biochemical Systematics and Ecology
ER -