Thermal stress and developmental disruption in the Neotropical lizard Tropidurus torquatus under climate change scenarios

Clicks: 2
ID: 310021
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal
Emerging

Ranked #245 of 490 articles by views in Frontiers in surgery

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale. Only the 120 most-read articles are drawn; the journal has 490 in total.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Abstract
Understanding how rising temperatures influence embryonic development is essential for predicting the vulnerability of Neotropical reptiles to climate warming. This study provides the first quantitative assessment of temperature-dependent developmental anomalies in the Cerrado lizard Tropidurus torquatus. A total of 159 eggs were incubated under five thermal experimental regimes representative of natural nest temperatures under projected warming scenarios. Incubation temperature had strong, positive effects on developmental outcomes: across treatments, 35.7% of hatchlings exhibited morphological anomalies, encompassing axial, cranial, and appendicular defects. Also, eEmbryonic mortality increased by ~80% in the odds58% per 1 °C, and the probability of undesirable outcomes (mortality plus malformations) rose by ~36% in the odds31% per 1 °C. Twelve distinct malformation types were identified, many of them severe and rarely documented in field surveys, emphasizing the importance of embryo-based assessments for revealing the true frequency of developmental abnormalities. Across all treatments, 54 malformation occurrences were recorded in 41 affected individuals, highlighting the substantial impact of thermally induced developmental disruption. Because all anomalies were observed directly in embryos or hatchlings, the recorded frequencies reflect the full expression of thermally induced disruption rather than a subset filtered by post-hatching survival. Many severe malformations occurred in embryos that failed to hatch, indicating that analyses restricted to hatchlings alone underestimate the true thermal sensitivity of developmental outcomes. These findings demonstrate that T. torquatus embryos are highly sensitive to elevated temperatures and highlight embryonic vulnerability as a critical pathway through which climate warming may reduce recruitment and ultimately compromise population persistence in Neotropical lizards.
Reference Key
imported_1768914819_696f7f8348d97 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Klaczko, Julia
Journal Frontiers in surgery
Year Year not found
DOI
10.3389/famrs.2026.1756660
URL
Keywords Keywords not found

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.