Anibal Díaz de la Vega-Pérez

Anibal Díaz de la Vega-Pérez
Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala · Centro Tlaxcala de Biología de la Conducta

PhD
Catedrático CONAHCYT

About

70
Publications
44,725
Reads
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403
Citations
Additional affiliations
September 2014 - present
Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología-Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala
Position
  • Researcher
June 2013 - June 2014
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Position
  • Professor

Publications

Publications (70)
Article
Full-text available
Global warming is threatening ectotherms, with strong repercussions on their population dynamics. Body temperature in ectotherm reptiles is crucial to perform all their biological functions, which are maximized within a narrow interval. When faced with new or adverse thermal conditions, reptiles will respond with distributional changes, behavioural...
Article
The impact of temperature on reptile physiology has been examined through two main parameters: locomotor performance and metabolic rates. Among reptiles, different species may respond to environmental temperatures in distinct ways, depending on their thermal sensitivity. Such variation can be linked to the ecological lifestyle of the species and ne...
Article
Full-text available
Functional connectivity, the extent to which a landscape facilitates or impedes the dispersal of individuals across the landscape, is a key factor for the survival of species. Anthropogenic activities, such as urbanization, agriculture and roads, negatively impact functional connectivity of most species, particularly low-vagility species like lizar...
Article
Adaptation or acclimation of thermal requirements to environmental conditions can reduce thermoregulation costs and increase fitness, especially in ectotherms, which rely heavily on environmental temperatures for thermoregulation. Insight into how thermal niches have shaped thermal requirements across evolutionary history may help predict the survi...
Article
Full-text available
The animal gut microbiota is strongly influenced by environmental factors that shape their temporal dynamics. Although diet is recognized as a major driver of gut micro-biota variation, dietary patterns have seldom been linked to gut microbiota dynamics in wild animals. Here, we analysed the gut microbiota variation between dry and rainy seasons ac...
Article
Full-text available
The maternal transmission of microbiota during embryonic development of vertebrates is still poorly understood. Here, we used high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA bacterial genes to determine the bacterial communities in the gastrointestinal tract and amniotic environment, i.e., the amniotic fluid, amniotic membrane and extraembryonic yolk, o...
Article
Full-text available
Diet composition and its ecological drivers are rarely investigated in coexisting closely related species. We used a molecular approach to characterize the seasonal variation in diet composition in four spiny lizard species inhabiting a mountainous ecosystem. DNA metabarcoding revealed that the lizards Sceloporus aeneus, S. bicanthalis, S. grammicu...
Article
Fecal samples or cloacal swabs are preferred over lethal dissections to study vertebrate gut microbiota for ethical reasons, but it remains unclear which nonlethal methods provide more accurate information about gut microbiota. We compared the bacterial communities of three gastrointestinal tract (GIT) segments, that is, stomach, small intestine (m...
Article
Ecogeographical patterns describe predictable variation in phenotypic traits between ecological communities. For example, high-altitude animals are expected to show elevated hematological values as an adaptation to the lower oxygen pressure. Mountains act like ecological islands and therefore are considered natural laboratories. However, the majori...
Article
We assessed whether morphological variability in populations of Pituophis deppei is related to the ecogeographic conditions of the biogeographic provinces they inhabit. This study includes four biogeographic provinces where the Mexican Pine Snake is reported: the Mexican Plateau, the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, the Sierra Madre Occidental, and the...
Article
Full-text available
We record the new highest elevation of two endemic lizards from Mexico. Our records for the Largescale Spiny Lizard Sceloporus megalepidurus Smith, 1934 extends 310 m its previous highest record, from 3,080 to 3,390 m in Peñon de Tlaxco, and for the Eastern Spiny Lizard S. spinosus Wiegmann, 1828 extends 360 m its previous highest record, from 2,67...
Article
Full-text available
Body maintenance costs are often considered a proxy for performance in fitness traits. Maintenance energy requirements are measured as minimal metabolic rate of inactive, postabsorptive individuals in the laboratory. For mountain-dwelling species, translocation to the laboratory often means that they are also moved to another elevation. Due to phys...
Article
Demographic models are useful for analyzing the effect of selective pressures on populations. Polymorphic populations display dramatic variation in phenotype, and different morphotypes representing alternative strategies are characterized by specific sets of behavioral, physiological, and morphological traits. Coloration is a classic polymorphic tr...
Article
Full-text available
The gut microbiota influences the phenotype and fitness of a host; however, limited information is currently available on the diversity and functions of the gut microbiota in wild animals. Therefore, we herein examined the diversity, composition, and potential functions of the gut microbiota in three Sceloporus lizards: Sceloporus aeneus, S. bicant...
Article
Species distribution modeling through correlative and mechanistic approaches help to make our projections more accurate. Here we projected the actual and future distribution of a widespread lizard using a hybrid approach on distribution modeling
Article
Full-text available
Aggressive behavior is performed in the context of intraspecific competition for gaining access to mates, food, or suitable territories. However, aggressive confrontations may divert time and energy from other important activities and increase the likelihood of suffering physical injury or predation. Aggressive behavior is particularly costly for e...
Article
Body size has important effects on snake ecology, and in turn, body size is dependent on the rate at which individuals grow. In this study, we analyzed first year captive growth of individuals from two populations of the Mexican dusky rattlesnake (Crotalus triseriatus). We used linear models to estimate individual growth rates as well as to compare...
Article
Full-text available
We compile a Mexican insular herpetofaunal checklist to estimate endemism, conservation status, island threats, net taxonomic turnover among six biogeographic provinces belonging to the Nearctic and Neotropical regions, and the relationships between island area and mainland distance versus species richness. We compile a checklist of insular herpeto...
Article
Body temperature is important in determining individual performance in ectotherms such as lizards. Environmental temperature decreases with increasing altitude, but nevertheless many lizards inhabit high-altitude environments. The ‘thermal melanism hypothesis’ proposes that a dark dorsal coloration enables darker individuals to heat up faster becau...
Article
We evaluated differential predation pressure on the lizard Sceloporus grammicus at 3 sampling sites along a high-mountain gradient, using 3 methods of assessment: attacks on plasticine lizard models, frequency of lizard tail autotomy, and estimation of the richness of potential predators. We placed a total of 720 lizard models at each sampling site...
Article
A 20-month recapture analysis of 1001 individually marked mesquite lizards (Sceloporus grammicus) suggests that variation in thermal quality across three altitudes influences survival probability. Each additional unit of deviation from the temperature selected by these lizards in previous laboratory experiments (i.e. decreased thermal quality) mean...
Article
Individuals that inhabit broad elevational ranges may experience unique environmental challenges. Because temperature decreases with increased elevation the ectotherms living at high elevations have to manage limited activity time and high thermoregulatory effort. The resting metabolic rate (RMR) of a postabsorptive animal is related to its total e...
Article
Full-text available
Survival rate is one of the most poorly characterized components of the life history of many species of reptiles, especially snakes. Reproductive activity can increase the risk of mortality. In this study, we examined whether sex-specific reproductive costs affect the survival probability of a viviparous rattlesnake, Crotalus triseriatus, in centra...
Article
Full-text available
Background: High-altitude ecosystems are extreme environments that generate specific physiological, morphological, and behavioral adaptations in ectotherms. The shifts in gut microbiota of the ectothermic hosts as an adaptation to environmental changes are still largely unknown. We investigated the food ingested and the bacterial, fungal, and prot...
Article
Hertz et al. (1993) designed what is now the most widely used protocol to analyse the thermal strategies and efficiency of small squamates. Preferred temperature range (Tp) is one of the most important variables required for determining the thermal efficiency index, and is calculated by monitoring the body temperature of the individuals in an enclo...
Article
Full-text available
The high loss rate of forest ecosystem by deforestation in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt is one of the principal ecological problems of central Mexico, even in natural protected areas. We compiled a checklist and determined β-diversity indexes of amphibians and reptiles of the highly disturbed protected area, La Malinche National Park (LMNP) in M...
Article
Full-text available
The thermal requirements of ectotherms may vary among species due to adaptation to different thermal environments. Nevertheless, some of these requirements are evolutionarily conserved, leading organisms to compensate behaviorally for harsh environmental conditions. High-mountain systems provide temperature gradients that allow for studies of evolu...
Book
Full-text available
El propósito de este libro es documentar las especies de anfibios y reptiles del Parque Nacional La Malinche, así como aportar detalles de su historia natural y algunas características que ayuden a la identificación de las especies residentes. Esta área natural protegida fue decretada como parque nacional en 1938. Sin embargo, al igual que otros pa...
Article
Reproductive aspects of most snake species remain elusive because of secretive habits or rarity. Here, we report data on litters of Crotalus triseriatus from two populations in central Mexico. We made 4-d visits to both study sites every other week from April to June during 2014 and 2015 (Site 1) and during 2015 (Site 2). Surveys were made from 090...
Article
The US and Mexico share a common history in many areas, including language and culture. They face ecological changes due to the increased frequency and severity of droughts and rising energy demands; trends that entail economic costs for both nations and major implications for human well being. We describe an ongoing effort by the Environment Worki...
Conference Paper
Recent climate change should result in expansion of species to northern or high elevation range margins,
Article
Full-text available
Recent climate change should result in expansion of species to northern or high elevation range margins, and contraction at southern and low elevation margins in the northern hemisphere, because of local extirpations or range shifts or both. We combined museum occurrence records from both the continental U.S. and Mexico with a new eco-physiological...
Technical Report
Full-text available
Recent climate change should result in expansion of species to northern or high elevation range margins, and contraction at southern and low elevation margins due to extinction. Climate models predict dramatic extinctions and distributional shifts in the next century, but there are few ground-truths of these dire forecasts leading to uncertainty in...
Article
Full-text available
Documentamos la distribución actual y potencial con base en registros de presencia de diversas colecciones nacionales e internacionales. Ademas registramos nuevos registros no publicados en el estado de Guerrero
Article
Full-text available
One of the most useful strategies for biological conservation is the creation of protected natural areas. In addition, periodic updates of management plans are necessary to modify or improve the information and make it accessible to future research. Banco Chinchorro Biosphere Reserve is a protected atoll situated 31 km eastward from the southern co...
Article
Full-text available
Here we report the first record of clearly underdeveloped horns in an individual of Phrynosoma orbiculare.
Article
Full-text available
Our knowledge of the biology of lizards in the genus Xenosaurus has increased over the past 20 years. Several generalities appear to hold for these lizards; however, some traits appear to vary among populations and species of Xenosaurus. Here we report on the thermal ecology, sexual dimorphism, and diet of a population of the recently described Xen...
Article
Full-text available
Environmental temperature is an important factor that regulates activity and physiological processes of ectotherms. Because sympatric species are exposed to similar thermal niche conditions, closely related species could present similar thermal requirements. This similarity may generate interspecific competition for optimal thermal space. The therm...
Article
Full-text available
We evaluated and compared the thermal quality for a lizard community (9 species) in Sierra del Ajusco and Pedregal de San Ángel (central Mexico) along an altitudinal gradient (2 320-3 530 m) to determine whether different thermal environments may be influencing species distribution and thermoregulatory behavior. Six areas that differ in elevation a...
Article
Full-text available
HEMIDACTYLUS FRENATUS (Common House Gecko). MÉXICO: TABASCO: muniCiPaliTy oF maCusPana: Holcim-Apasco Field Station (17.65156°N, 92.438858°W; WGS84), 40 m elev. 9 June 2014. Pierre Charruau, Rafael A. Lara-Resendiz, and Aníbal H. Díaz de la Vega-Pérez. Verified by F. Méndez-de la Cruz. CNAR- RF 62-64. First municipality record, extending the range...
Article
Full-text available
We evaluated and compared the thermal quality for a lizard community (9 species) in Sierra del Ajusco and Pedregal de San Ángel (central Mexico) along an altitudinal gradient (2 320-3 530 m) to determine whether different thermal environments may be influencing species distribution and thermoregulatory behavior. Six areas that differ in elevation a...
Article
Full-text available
For the first time, the morphological and thermal traits of the nests of the Aspidoscelis costata lizard are described in this study. All nests (n= 23) were found under rocks, which were exposed directly to the sunlight. The rocks measured (Mean±1SE) 65.8±3.6 cm in length, 43.7±2 cm in width, and 28.7±3.2 cm in height. The general shape of the nest...
Article
Full-text available
Herpetological Journal FULL PAPER Correspondence: Fausto R. Méndez-de la Cruz (faustor@ibiologia.unam.mx) Closely-related species can exhibit similar thermal requirements despite inhabiting different environments. Hybrid species between them can exhibit a diversity of thermal requirements, or can be similar to parental species. In this study, we in...
Chapter
Full-text available
Introducción M éxico es uno de los países con mayor biodiversidad a nivel mundial, ocupa el cuarto lugar en especies de anfibios y el segundo lugar en reptiles. El último listado menciona que existen 1 165 especies de anfibios y reptiles para México (Flores Villela y Canseco Márquez, 2004), pero recientemente ha au-mentado a un total de 1 203 espec...
Chapter
Full-text available
Introducción México ostenta el titulo de país megadiverso, siendo los anfibios y reptiles pilares importantes para sostener el cuarto lugar de siete países enlistados, donde cada uno posee el 10% de la riqueza biológica mundial (Flores-Villela y Canseco-Márquez, 2004). Cuenta con el tercer lugar en anfibios con 393 especies y subespecies y el segun...

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