Montane animals require different adaptations than lowland species because of more severe conditions. Proctoporus lizards of the Andes Mountains experience cold temperatures year-round, which may affect their activity. Two species of this poorly known genus, P. unsaacae and P. sucullucu, have similar morphology and ecology, but had never been studied in detail. The purpose of this project was to compare the population biology of the two species and to ascertain whether they were more likely to share ecological similarities with phylogenetic relatives or with other unrelated lizards of the Andes. We established two permanent plots in the Sacred Valley of the Incas in Cusco region, Peru, and examined the thermal ecology, movement, sex ratio, longevity, population sizes, growth patterns, reproduction and other factors over a period of 4 years. Proctoporus unsaacae and P. sucullucu were similar in most aspects of their ecology except that P. sucullcu was larger, had smaller population sizes, and fewer recaptures. Both species live exclusively under rocks and are strict thermoconformers who do not actively thermoregulate their body temperatures by basking, as other high Andean lizards do. The two species have reverse sexual dimorphism with P. unsaacae having larger females and P. sucullcu having larger males. The species are highly philopatric with average movement of less than 7 m in a lifetime. Both appear to be relatively long-lived with an individual P. unsaacae living longer than 2 years 8 months. At both sites, populations age structures had few juveniles and we detected a declining population of P. unsaacae in Urubamba. This project lays the groundwork for more in-depth studies of the ecology of both species and their high-elevation habitats.

中文翻译：

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秘鲁安第斯山脉不寻常的耐热蜥蜴种群生物学（有鳞蜥蜴：Gymnophthalmidae）

由于条件更恶劣，山地动物需要与低地物种不同的适应能力。安第斯山脉的Proctoporus蜥蜴全年都会经历寒冷的气温，这可能会影响它们的活动。这个鲜为人知的属的两个物种，P. unsaacae和P. sucullucu，具有相似的形态和生态，但从未被详细研究过。该项目的目的是比较这两个物种的种群生物学，并确定它们是否更有可能与系统发育亲属或安第斯山脉的其他无关蜥蜴共享生态相似性。我们在秘鲁库斯科地区的印加圣谷建立了两个永久性地块，并在 4 年的时间里检查了热生态、运动、性别比例、寿命、人口规模、生长模式、繁殖和其他因素。Proctoporus unsaacae和P. sucullucu在生态的大部分方面都相似，除了P.更大，人口规模更小，重新捕获的次数更少。这两个物种都只生活在岩石下，并且是严格的恒温动物，不会像其他高安第斯蜥蜴那样通过晒太阳来主动调节体温。这两个物种具有反向两性异形，P. unsaacae具有较大的雌性，而P. sucullcu具有较大的雄性。该物种是高度亲缘动物，一生中平均移动不到 7 m。两者似乎都相对长寿，单个P. unsaacae 的寿命超过 2 年 8 个月。在这两个地点，种群年龄结构几乎没有幼鱼，我们检测到P. unsaacae种群下降在乌鲁班巴。该项目为更深入地研究这两个物种的生态及其高海拔栖息地奠定了基础。