Date of Award

2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

Walstrom, Katherine

Area of Concentration

Biology with Chemistry

Abstract

As climate change continues to threaten biodiversity around the world, time is running out to protect many species from extinction. Lizards are among the most threatened species, and over twenty percent of all lizards are expected to face extinction as temperatures increase globally. Hemidactylus mabouia is an invasive and highly abundant species of gecko in Florida and limited information is available on their thermal tolerance.These lizards were collected in Sarasota, Florida, where their CTmax was measured by the demonstration of loss of normal function in the form of pants and muscular spasms. I hypothesized that the two methods of measuring CTmax would produce similar results and predicted that H. mabouia is not at risk of becoming extinct in Florida based on climate change projections for the future. The data revealed an average CTmax of 38.5±2.6°C using the panting method and 41.9±0.92°C using spasms, which was a significant difference. Based on these findings, H. mabouia is not at risk of population decline in Florida in the near future and that there is a strong relationship between CTmax and method of measurement. Further research with a larger sample size will support these conclusions.

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