REPTILES UNDER THE SUN: USING LACERTID LIZARDS TO ANALYSE THE BIOLOGICAL RESPONSES TO THERMAL FLUCTUATIONS IN THE ENVIRONMENTS

STUDENT SEMINAR IN BIODIVERSITY AND EVOLUTION

Temperature affects every aspect of ectotherms biology, and seminal papers on thermal ecology of ectotherms dated back the early decades of the previous century. In recent years, interest in thermal ecology has not diminished, due to the development of new tools to investigate the field and the concern about species conservation under the current rate of climate change. In this context, there is an urgent need to understand on both large and fine scale the relationship between temperature and ectotherms life-history, physiology and behaviour. During the presentation, I will show the research that I have been conducting during my first two years of PhD on aspects of ectotherms thermal ecology, using several species of lizards as models.

Marco Sannolo holds a MSc in Biodiversity and Biological Evolution from the University of Milan. Currently, Marco is a third year PhD student of the BIODIV program and is working under the supervision of Dr. Miguel Angel Carretero (CIBIO-InBIO), as part of the Applied Phylogenetic Group. His interests focus on reptiles biology and thermal ecology in general. For his PhD, Marco is investigating how ectotherms regulate their body temperature and to what extent water availability affects them, using lizards as models.

[Group Leader: Miguel Carretero, Applied Phylogenetics]

Image credits: Marco Sannolo