Veterinarska stanica, Vol. 56 No. 1, 2025.
Review article
https://doi.org/10.46419/vs.56.1.7
The influence of environmental factors on the hormonal status of lizards – a review
Dražen Đuričić
orcid.org/0000-0002-8013-2091
; Veterinarski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Hrvatska
Maja Lukač
; Veterinarski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Hrvatska
Ivona Žura Žaja
; Veterinarski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Hrvatska
Josip Miljković
; Veterinarski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Hrvatska
Emanuel Budicin
; Veterinarski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Hrvatska
Željko Gottstein
; Veterinarski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Hrvatska
Danijela Horvatek-Tomić
; Veterinarski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Hrvatska
Marko Samardžija
; Veterinarski fakultet Sveučiišta u Zagrebu, Hrvatska
Abstract
Important exogenous factors that mutually affect and regulate the annual sexual cycle of lizards, in the ecological context of adaptation, are environmental (rain, temperature, humidity, photoperiod, etc.), structural (vegetation change, food availability, etc.) and social factors (behavioural interaction, experience, etc.), while in some species endogenous (circa-annual) rhythmicity may prevail. Both endogenous and exogenous factors determine the time of hatching in the season providing the highest chances of survival for offspring. Hormonally controlled processes via the hypothalamus- pituitary-gonadal axis produce a cascade of events that determine the reproductive processes involved in reproduction, and can be found in all lizard species. These hormones, in addition to being necessary for successful reproduction and survival of the species, have numerous roles in physiology, metabolism and behaviour. The beginning, duration and end of the breeding season, and the duration of sexual inactivity, differ significantly by species and geographical distribution. Although there is much knowledge about reptile reproduction and its regulation, there are still hidden secrets and specificities in many species that have not yet been discovered or fully explained.
Keywords
environmental factors; lizard; reproduction; sexual hormones
Hrčak ID:
316660
URI
Publication date:
11.6.2024.
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