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Animal Biodiversity and Conservation. Volume 39.2 (2016) Pages: 237-240

Comparison of the effectiveness of phalanges vs. humeri and femurs to estimate lizard age with skeletochronology

Comas, M., Reguera, S., Zamora-Camacho, F. J., Salvadó, H., Moreno-Rueda, G.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.32800/abc.2016.39.0237

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Abstract

Skeletochronology allows estimation of lizard age with a single capture (from a bone), making long–term monitoring unnecessary. Nevertheless, this method often involves the death of the animal to obtain the bone. We tested the reliability of skeletochronology of phalanges (which may be obtained without killing) by comparing the estimated age from femurs and humeri with the age estimated from phalanges. Our results show skeletochronology of phalanges is a reliable method to estimate age in lizards as cross–section readings from all bones studied presented a high correlation and repeatability regardless of the bone chosen. This approach provides an alternative to the killing of lizards for skeletochronology studies.

Keywords

Conservation, Demography, Growth, Population structure

Cite

Comas, M., Reguera, S., Zamora-Camacho, F. J., Salvadó, H., Moreno-Rueda, G., 2016. Comparison of the effectiveness of phalanges vs. humeri and femurs to estimate lizard age with skeletochronology. Animal Biodiversity and Conservation, 39: 237-240, DOI: https://doi.org/10.32800/abc.2016.39.0237

Reception date:

03/04/2016

Acceptation date:

11/05/2016

Publication date:

30/06/2016

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