Morphological Response of Laudakia Wui to Different Altitudinal Gradient

Tan Song; Wei Ruitao; Yang Weizhao; Qi Yin

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1004-3403.2025.12.004

Abstract：Morphological changes in animals are closely related to their adaptation to ecological environment,which may vary depending on morphilogical functions.Bergmann's rule and Allen's rule are two classic theories that explain the interrelationship between functional morphological traits and ecological environment factors.The former posits that animals exhibit larger body size in colder environment,while the latter suggests that animals de-velop shorter tails and limbs in colder environment.To investigate the universality of these rules for ectotherms,this study took Laudakia wui distributed in the Yarlung Zangbo River basin of Xizang as the model.By assessing chang-es in the three functional morphological categories—body size,locomotion and sensory traits along altitudinal gradi-ent,Bergmann's and Allen's rules were tested,and correlations between morphological changes and climatic fac-tors were explored.Results indicated that the body size of Laudakia wui significantly decreased with increasing alti-tude,contradicting Bergmann's rule;while forelimb traits enhanced,and tail length and eye diameter decreased with increasing altitude,partially supporting Allen's rule.Furthermore,net primary productivity was significantly positively correlated with snout-vent length,head characteristics and tail length.This study has revealed the strate-gies employed by Laudakia wui to adapt to environmental pressure through morphological changes,which offers critical insight into its potential response to climate change and holds scientific importance for biodiversity conserva-tion on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau.