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[[File:Alligator Lizard Mite Pocket.png|thumb|300x300px|A mite pocket on the neck of a [[northern alligator lizard]]]] |
[[File:Alligator Lizard Mite Pocket.png|thumb|300x300px|A mite pocket on the neck of a [[northern alligator lizard]]]] |
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A '''mite pocket''' is an area on the body of a [[lizard]] that |
A '''mite pocket''' is an area on the body of a [[lizard]] that where biting mites congregate such as [[Trombicula|chiggers]] and [[tick]]s.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Arnold |first=E.N. |date=September 1986 |title=Mite pockets of lizards, a possible means of reducing damage by ectoparasites |url=https://academic.oup.com/biolinnean/article-abstract/29/1/1/2676944 |journal=Biological Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=1–21 |doi=10.1111/j.1095-8312.1986.tb01767.x |via=Oxford Academic}}</ref> They are slight depressions on the body, usually behind other appendages such as the legs and neck. These areas have smaller scales and increased blood vessels to entice the parasites to move there, while also being able to regenerate itself quickly, thus localizing the damage to only one part of the lizard's body.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Elmer |first=Nicole |date=27 October 2021 |title=All things creepy: parasitism pt 4, mite pockets |url=https://biodiversity.utexas.edu/news/entry/mite-pockets |access-date=7 April 2023 |website=The University of Texas at Austin Biodiversity Center}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bertrand |display-authors=etal |date=March 2004 |title=The role of mite pocket-like structures on Agama caudospinosa (Agamidae) infested by Pterygosoma livingstonei sp. n. (Acari: Prostigmata: Pterygosomatidae) |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15139379/ |journal=Folia Parasitol (Praha) |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=61–66 |doi=10.14411/fp.2004.009 |pmid=15139379 |via=PubMed}}</ref> |
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This feature has evolved independently in five families of lizard and over 150 species of lizards,<ref name=":1" /> and are in particular most common in places that are warm and moist.<ref name=":0" /> For example, in western [[North America]], [[Spiny lizard|''Sceloporous'']] species from the lowlands have evolved mite pockets due to the abundance of ticks in those habitats, while ''[[Zebra-tailed lizard|Callisaurus]]'' and ''[[Side-blotched lizard|Uta]]'' species that live in arid deserts do not need them.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Reed |first=Jay Clark |date=2014 |title=Analysis of the Function and Evolution of Mite Pockets in Lizards. |url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/107203 |journal=University of Michigan Library |hdl=2027.42/107203 |type=Thesis }}</ref> |
This feature has evolved independently in five families of lizard and over 150 species of lizards,<ref name=":1" /> and are in particular most common in places that are warm and moist.<ref name=":0" /> For example, in western [[North America]], [[Spiny lizard|''Sceloporous'']] species from the lowlands have evolved mite pockets due to the abundance of ticks in those habitats, while ''[[Zebra-tailed lizard|Callisaurus]]'' and ''[[Side-blotched lizard|Uta]]'' species that live in arid deserts do not need them.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Reed |first=Jay Clark |date=2014 |title=Analysis of the Function and Evolution of Mite Pockets in Lizards. |url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/107203 |journal=University of Michigan Library |hdl=2027.42/107203 |type=Thesis }}</ref> While herpetologist [[Edwin Nicholas Arnold|Edwin N. Arnold]] argued that the structures were evolutionary adaptations to concentrate mite activity to certain regions of the body to reduce overall tissue damage, other authors have argued that the structures are not adaptations but merely the result of the way skin develops and folds, in combination with adaptation to locomotion and [[crypsis]], and that mites are simply drawn to these relatively vulnerable positions.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-03-02 |title=Do Lizards Really Have ‘Mite Pockets’? |url=https://tetzoo.com/blog/2024/3/1/do-lizards-really-have-mite-pockets |access-date=2024-03-24 |website=Tetrapod Zoology |language=en-GB}}</ref> |
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== References == |
== References == |
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Revision as of 06:30, 24 March 2024
A mite pocket is an area on the body of a lizard that where biting mites congregate such as chiggers and ticks.[1] They are slight depressions on the body, usually behind other appendages such as the legs and neck. These areas have smaller scales and increased blood vessels to entice the parasites to move there, while also being able to regenerate itself quickly, thus localizing the damage to only one part of the lizard's body.[2][3]
This feature has evolved independently in five families of lizard and over 150 species of lizards,[2] and are in particular most common in places that are warm and moist.[1] For example, in western North America, Sceloporous species from the lowlands have evolved mite pockets due to the abundance of ticks in those habitats, while Callisaurus and Uta species that live in arid deserts do not need them.[4] While herpetologist Edwin N. Arnold argued that the structures were evolutionary adaptations to concentrate mite activity to certain regions of the body to reduce overall tissue damage, other authors have argued that the structures are not adaptations but merely the result of the way skin develops and folds, in combination with adaptation to locomotion and crypsis, and that mites are simply drawn to these relatively vulnerable positions.[5]
References
- ^ a b Arnold, E.N. (September 1986). "Mite pockets of lizards, a possible means of reducing damage by ectoparasites". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 29 (1): 1–21. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.1986.tb01767.x – via Oxford Academic.
- ^ a b Elmer, Nicole (27 October 2021). "All things creepy: parasitism pt 4, mite pockets". The University of Texas at Austin Biodiversity Center. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- ^ Bertrand; et al. (March 2004). "The role of mite pocket-like structures on Agama caudospinosa (Agamidae) infested by Pterygosoma livingstonei sp. n. (Acari: Prostigmata: Pterygosomatidae)". Folia Parasitol (Praha). 51 (1): 61–66. doi:10.14411/fp.2004.009. PMID 15139379 – via PubMed.
- ^ Reed, Jay Clark (2014). Analysis of the Function and Evolution of Mite Pockets in Lizards. University of Michigan Library (Thesis). hdl:2027.42/107203.
- ^ "Do Lizards Really Have 'Mite Pockets'?". Tetrapod Zoology. 2024-03-02. Retrieved 2024-03-24.