Statistics of histological parameters of chemosensory system in lizards with different foraging modes

At least 20 sections were prepared for each lizard, with approximately four consecutive tissue samples per section to ensure that the NOS and VNS tissues were completely cut. Paraffin sections were stained using Hematoxylin-Eosin (H.E) staining. The NOS and VNS of each lizard were photographed using a Motic BA210 digital microscope (Motic Industrial Group Limited, China). The thickness of the sensory epithelium in the middle of the NOS and VNS of each lizard was measured under 100X magnification using a Motic Images Plus 3.0 micrometry system (Motic Industrial Group Limited, China), and each visual field was randomly measured three times. Three consecutive sections from the middle part of the NOS and VNS were selected from each lizard. The number of olfactory sensory cells and vomeronasal sensory cells in a 60×60 μm area in similar parts of each lizard was counted under 400 X magnification using the cell counting tool in Adobe Photoshop (24.0.0), one complete cell was counted when half of the cells fell inside the square.