Size, sex, reproductive status and body temperature dataset

Climate change is impacting species globally, with many populations
declining at an accelerated rate towards extinction. Ectothermic species
are particularly vulnerable given their reproductive success is linked to
environmental temperatures. Studies of the effect of temperature on
reproductive success in oviparous squamates have focused mostly on nest
temperatures, after eggs are deposited. However, in some species gravid
females are known to thermoregulate differently than other adults to
increase reproductive success.  It is essential to understand
what influences the thermal biology of breeding adults in a population to
implement targeted conservation strategies. The Florida scrub lizard
Sceloporus woodi is an endemic species listed as near-threatened due to
decreasing populations. This study is the first to document the thermal
biology of these breeding adults in relation to size, sex, and
reproductive status. A t-test was used to determine if sexual dimorphism
was present in the sampled S.woodi. Full linear mixed-effects models were
used to test the influence of size, sex and reproductive status on the
thermal biology of S. woodi. Despite female-biased sexual size dimorphism,
there were no sex-based differences in body temperature in the studied
population.  Interestingly, reproductive status influenced
thermal biology of females during the breeding season, with gravid females
maintaining lower body temperatures compared to non-gravid females.
However, gravid females did not regulate their body temperatures more
precisely compared to non-gravid females. These results indicate the
population viability of this endemic species is potentially linked to the
different thermoregulatory requirements of gravid females as compared to
other adults. Lower body temperatures of gravid females, exacerbated by
their lack of thermal precision, has disconcerting conservation
implications in the face of climate warming. Future studies focusing on
gravid females are warranted to attain effective biodiversity conservation
strategies mitigating the impacts of climate warming.