Species Diversity Of The Reptiles And Ecological Adaptability Of Two Phrynocephalus Species In The Altay Prefecture In Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region,China

The Altay Prefecture in China is a special area in mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere.It also shares international border with the neighboring Kazakhstan,Mongolia and Russia.The geography is diverse,encompassing mountainous terrain,vast plains and desert lands.And it has typical northern coniferous forest and temperate desert landscape and animal groups.Besides,it was the only Euro-Siberian biogeographic region of the Palearctic in China and migratory route ranged throughout Mongolian-Manchurian grassland and Kazakhstan.The area has high research value and conservation value.I surveyed the diversity and distribution of reptiles through the line-transect method in the Altay Prefecture and conducted studies on the ecological adaptability of genus Phrynocephalus from June,2014 to July,2014 and July,2015 to September,2015.1.392 specimens was collected,which belongs to 1 orders,8 families,and 25 species combined with previous literatures.All of these species belong to the Palearctic ecozone.The element of the mid-Asia plays an important role in the Palearctic ecozone,including 20mid-Asia species.From geographical point view it is a transitional zone between Euro-Siberian region and Central-Asiatic region.Our results showed bimodal patterns for the elevational distributions of reptiles.The altitude in the range 400m-1600m was divided into 12 groups.The peak values of Simpson's dominance index and Shannon-Wiener 's diversity index were found in Group 1(400m-499m)and Group 8(1100m-1199m).The peak values of Pielou's evenness index were found in Group 2(500m-599m)and Group 9(1200m-1299m).Whereas,the peak values of richness were found in Group 1(400m-499m)and Group 6(900m-999m).2.The effects of light intensity and substrate color on body color was investigated in Phrynocephalus helioscopus and Phrynocephalus grumgrzimailoi.Phrynocephalus helioscopus and Phrynocephalus grumgrzimailoi were kept in the habitats with different light intensity and different substrates,and then photographed them by using the digital photography.We quantified and calculated the color by using grayscale through Photoshop software.The results showed that:(1)In these two species,the gray level of dorsal gray decreased when they were kept in the habitat with light substrates and high light intensity;The lizards increased their dorsal gray when they were kept in dark substrates and at low light intensity.(2)The general trend of dorsal change in response to light intensity and substrates did not differ between two species.These results implied that light intensity and substrates treatments induced strong color change responses.Phrynocephalus grumgrzimailoi chose light intensity and Phrynocephalus helioscopus chose substrates as their main influence factories.Our results suggested that both light and substrate were all important for color changing in sand lizards.3.The characteristics of relative fatness in 174 individuals of Phrynocephalus helioscopus and 84 individuals of Phrynocephalus grumgrzimailoi was investigated in different ages and sex and the relation among temperature,humidity,altitude and relative fatness.Log body mass/log body length were used to calculate the relative fatness in Phrynocephalus helioscopus and Phrynocephalus grumgrzimailoi.The results showed that:(1)There was significant difference of the relative fatness between these two species.(2)The difference in relative fatness between males and females Phrynocephalus helioscopus was not significant,but the difference in relative fatness between males and females Phrynocephalus helioscopus was significant.(3)The statistical difference has practical significance between sub-adult and adult in two lizards.Phrynocephalus grumgrzimailoi differed significantly in different months,but Phrynocephalus helioscopus doesn't.(4)The temperature factor was powerful for Phrynocephalus grumgrzimailoi,while the altitude factor was powerful for Phrynocephalus helioscopus.It's abundant of endemic species of reptiles in Altay Prefecture,it would be great if local government call for a better supervision,strengthen the legislation,law enforcement to ensure the resources of local reptiles.