Introduction: Understanding the physiological responses to warming temperatures is critical for evaluating the vulnerabilities of animals to climate warming. The physiological responses are increasingly affected by gut microbiota. However, the interactions between physiological responses and the gut microbiota of sympatric animals from various microhabitats in the face of climate change remain largely unknown.Methods: To evaluate the effects of warming temperatures on animals from different microhabitats, we compared locomotor performance, metabolic rate, growth, survival, and gut microbiota of two sympatric ectothermic species (Eremias argus and Takydromus amurensis) from open and semi-closed microhabitats under present and moderate warming climate conditions, respectively.Results and discussion: We found that locomotor performance and growth rates of snout-vent length (SVL) were enhanced in both lizard species by warming climate. Interestingly, warming temperatures enhanced resting metabolic rates (RMR) in the open-habitat lizard, E. argus, but depressed them in the semi-closed habitat lizard, T. amurensis. Reversely, the metabolism-related gut microbiota was not affected by warming in E. argus, whereas it was significantly enhanced by warming in T. amurensis, indicating a plausible compensatory effect of the gut microbiota on the metabolic regulation of T. amurensis. Furthermore, warming likely improved immunity in both lizard species by significantly reducing pathogenic bacteria while increasing probiotics. This study found that high-latitude sympatric lizards from both open and semi-closed habitats were beneficial to warming temperatures by physiological modification and regulation of the gut microbiota and highlighted the importance of integrating the physiology and gut microbiota in evaluating the vulnerability of animals to climate warming.

In this study, the complete mitogenome sequence of Rugosa emeljanovi (Anura: Ranidae) is first determined using long PCR. It is a circular molecule of 17,733 bp in length (GenBank accession no. KU641020). Similar to the typical mtDNA of amphibians, the complete mtDNA sequence of R. emeljanovi contained 2 rRNA genes (12S rRNA and 16S rRNA), 22 tRNA genes, 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), and a control region (D-loop). The nucleotide composition was 28.1% A, 26.8% C, 14.8% G, and 30.3% T. Mitochondrial genome analyses based on the NJ method yield phylogenetic trees, including the 13 already reported Ranidae family frogs. The molecular data presented here provide a useful tool for systematic analyses of genus Rugosa and Glandirana.

The complete mitogenome sequence of Takydromus amurensis (Squamata: Lacertidae) is determined using long PCR for the first time in this study. It is a circular molecule of 17 333 bp in length (GenBank accession number: KU641018). Similar to the most other lizards, the complete mtDNA sequence of T. amurensis contained two rRNA genes (12S rRNA and 16S rRNA), 22 tRNA genes, 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs) and a control region (D-loop). The nucleotide composition was 31.23% A, 26.06% C, 13.91% G and 28.8% T. Mitochondrial genomes analyses based on NJ method yield phylogenetic trees, including 14 reported lizards belonging to three families (Lacertidae, Gekkonidae and Agamidae). These molecular data presented here provide a useful tool for systematic analyses of genus Takydromus.

The complete mitochondrial genome of Rhabdophis tigrinus (Reptilia: Squamata) is presented for the first time in this study. It is a circular molecule of 17 415 bp in length (GenBank accession no. KU641019), consisting of 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, two ribosomal RNA genes (12S and 16S rRNA) and two control regions (D-loop), with the typical gene order and direction of transcription in Serpentes. The overall base composition is 33.65% A, 26.70% C, 13.16% G and 26.49% T. Mitochondrial genomes analyses based on NJ method yield phylogenetic trees, including 14 reported snakes belonging to four families (Colubridae, Elapidae, Viperidae and Typhlopidae). These molecular data presented here provide a useful tool for systematic analyses of genus Rhabdophis and family Colubridae.

With limited resources and efforts, assessing species' vulnerabilities across various geographic regions before the conservation practice is essential for biodiversity conservation in the context of climate change. One pressing challenge has been establishing natural temperature‐manipulated research systems across latitudes. To address this challenge, an innovative infrastructure is developed named the semi‐natural climate chambers across latitudes (SCCAL), consisting of semi‐natural climate chambers at three latitudes, spanning 27° and 3393 km from tropical to temperate regions. Each latitude features eight medium‐sized patches for temperature manipulation, organisms rearing, and ecological experiments. Independent of external water and electricity supplies, the SCCAL allows to simulate thermal environments under different climate change scenarios with natural soil moisture. Ecological experiments with Grass lizards successfully are conducted, demonstrating that the SCCAL effectively supports species rearing, responses determining, and the vulnerability assessing. The widespread adoption or development of similar infrastructures is encouraged, which can facilitate the assessment of latitudinal animal vulnerabilities under climate change.

The Northeastern China Salamander (Hynobius leechii) is classified as a rare, nationally protected Class II wild animal in China. Its population is declining, and its habitat is deteriorating. This study aimed to predict the distribution of suitable habitats for the Northeastern China Salamander under both current and future climate scenarios, utilizing the MaxEnt model optimized through ENMeval parameters. Species distribution data were collected from field surveys, existing literature, amphibian records in China, and the Global Biodiversity Information Network. A total of 97 records were compiled, with duplicate records within the ENMTools grid unit removed, ensuring that only one record existed within every 5 km. Ultimately, 58 distinct distribution points for the Northeastern China Salamander were identified. The R software package ‘ENMeval 2.0’ was employed to optimize the feature complexity (FC) and regularization multiplier (RM), and the optimized model was applied to assess the suitable distribution regions for the Northeastern China Salamander under present and future climate conditions. The findings indicated that rainfall and temperature are the primary environmental factors influencing Hynobius. Currently, the suitable habitat for the Northeastern China Salamander constitutes 6.6% of the total area of Northeastern China. Projections for the periods of 2050 and 2070 suggest that suitable habitats for the Northeastern China Salamander will continue to expand towards higher latitudes across three climate scenarios. While this study focuses solely on climate change factors and acknowledges certain limitations, it serves as a reliable reference and provides essential information for the distribution and conservation of the Northeastern China Salamander.