Animal and feces collection
T. roborowskii individuals were captured from the desert in the
suburb of Turpan in May 2021 and September 2021. The capture site is
located near the Turpan Eremophytes Botanic Garden. In consideration of
the search ability of the site, we use the coordinates of the Turpan
Eremophytes Botanic Garden to locate it. Which is located in the Turpan
Basin in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China (40°51′N,
89°11′E). The experiment was divided into two groups: (1) 11 lizards
were captured in spring (spring group; SG), and 23 complete fresh fecal
pellets were collected during the fasting period; (2) 15 lizards were
captured in autumn (autumn group; AG), and 21 complete fresh fecal
pellets were collected during the fasting period.
After capture, Turpan wonder geckoes were numbered, and their sex and
other basic information were recorded. Subsequently, each T.
roborowskii was placed in a clean feeding box and fasted during this
period. A noninvasive fecal sampling method was used to check for
excretion every 2 h to ensure the timely collection of fresh fecal
samples. Complete fecal samples were collected into sterile cryovials
using fresh, sterilized tweezers. Samples were immediately marked and
snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen, and then transferred to a -80℃ freezer
for subsequent experimental operations. Our previous study showed that
the transit time of food through the digestive tract of T.
roborowskii is up to 15 days (Yang et al., 2021), therefore, fecal
collection was performed while no food was provided for 15 days. After
the experiment, all the animals were in good physiological condition and
were treated in strict accordance with the relevant regulations on
animal welfare. All of the experiments and handling of the animals were
conducted according to the research protocols approved by the Animal
Welfare and Ethics Committee of Xinjiang Agricultural University.