Communication via Biotremors in the Veiled Chameleon (Chamaeleo calyptratus): Part I- Biotremor Production and Response to Substrate-Borne Vibrations.

Biotremors are vibrations, usually surface waves along the boundary of a medium, produced by an organism. While substrate-borne vibrations are utilized by different reptile species, true conspecific communication via biotremors has not yet been demonstrated in lizards. Recent research revealed that the veiled chameleon (Chamaeleo calyptratus) produces biotremors.

Communication via Biotremors in the Veiled Chameleon (Chamaeleo calyptratus): Part II-Social Contexts.

This study extends recent research demonstrating that the veiled chameleon (Chamaeleo calyptratus) can produce and detect biotremors. Chameleons were paired in various social contexts: dominance (male-male; female-female C. calyptratus); courtship (male-female C.

Extreme Morphology, Functional Trade-offs, and Evolutionary Dynamics in a Clade of Open-Ocean Fishes (Perciformes: Bramidae).

When novel or extreme morphologies arise, they are oft met with the burden of functional trade-offs in other aspects of anatomy, which may limit phenotypic diversification and make particular adaptive peaks inaccessible. Bramids (Perciformes: Bramidae) comprise a small family of 20 extant species of fishes, which are distributed throughout pelagic waters worldwide. Within the Bramidae, the fanfishes ( and ) differ morphologically from the generally stout, laterally compressed species that typify the family.

The role of hyoid muscles in biotremor production in .

The production of biotremors has been described in veiled chameleons (), but the mechanism by which they are produced is unknown. We gathered muscle activation data via electromyography (EMG), with simultaneous recordings of biotremors using an accelerometer, to test for the role of hyoid muscles in biotremor production. We recorded a mean biotremor frequency of 150.

Gular pouch diversity in the Chamaeleonidae.

Numerous chameleon species possess an out-pocketing of the trachea known as the gular pouch. After surveying more than 250 specimens, representing nine genera and 44 species, we describe two different morphs of the gular pouch. Species of the genera Bradypodion and Chamaeleo, as well as Trioceros goetzei, all possess a single gular pouch (morph one) formed from ventral expansion of soft tissue where the larynx and trachea meet.