A global analysis of field body temperatures of active squamates in relation to climate and behaviour

Aim Squamate fitness is affected by body temperature, which in turn is influenced by environmental temperatures and, in many species, by exposure to solar radiation. The biophysical drivers of body temperature have been widely studied, but we lack an integrative synthesis of actual body temperatures...

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Published in:	Global ecology and biogeography Vol. 33; no. 4; pp. 1 - n/a
Main Authors:	Dubiner, Shahar, Aguilar, Rocío, Anderson, Rodolfo O., Arenas Moreno, Diego M., Avila, Luciano J., Boada‐Viteri, Estefania, Castillo, Martin, Chapple, David G., Chukwuka, Christian O., Cree, Alison, Cruz, Félix B., Colli, Guarino R., Das, Indraneil, Delaugerre, Michel‐Jean, Du, Wei‐Guo, Dyugmedzhiev, Angel, Doan, Tiffany M., Escudero, Paula, Farquhar, Jules, Gainsbury, Alison M., Gray, Brian S., Grimm‐Seyfarth, Annegret, Hare, Kelly M., Henle, Klaus, Ibargüengoytía, Nora, Itescu, Yuval, Jamison, Simon, Jimenez‐Robles, Octavio, Labra, Antonieta, Laspiur, Alejandro, Liang, Tao, Ludgate, Jackie L., Luiselli, Luca, Martín, José, Matthews, Genevieve, Medina, Marlin, Méndez‐de‐la‐Cruz, Fausto R., Miles, Donald B., Mills, Nathan E., Miranda‐Calle, Alejandro Bruno, Monks, Joanne M., Morando, Mariana, Moreno Azocar, Débora L., Murali, Gopal, Pafilis, Panayotis, Pérez‐Cembranos, Ana, Pérez‐Mellado, Valentín, Peters, Richard, Pizzatto, Ligia, Pincheira‐Donoso, Daniel, Plummer, Michael V., Schwarz, Rachel, Shermeister, Ben, Shine, Richard, Theisinger, Ole, Theisinger, Wiebke, Tolley, Krystal A., Torres‐Carvajal, Omar, Valdecantos, Soledad, Van Damme, Raoul, Vitt, Laurie J., Wapstra, Erik, While, Geoffrey M., Levin, Eran, Meiri, Shai
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Oxford Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01-04-2024 Wiley
Subjects:	Air temperature Body temperature body temperature distribution Climate Cold weather Correlation Diel activity Diurnal heliotherm Life Sciences lizard Lizards Nocturnal Phylogeny reptile snake Snakes Solar radiation Species substrate temperature Substrates Taxa Temperature distribution thermal ecology Thermoregulatory behavior nocturnal thermal ecology heliotherm substrate temperature snake body temperature distribution air temperature climate reptile lizard
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Summary:	Aim Squamate fitness is affected by body temperature, which in turn is influenced by environmental temperatures and, in many species, by exposure to solar radiation. The biophysical drivers of body temperature have been widely studied, but we lack an integrative synthesis of actual body temperatures experienced in the field, and their relationships to environmental temperatures, across phylogeny, behaviour and climate. Location Global (25 countries on six continents). Taxa Squamates (210 species, representing 25 families). Methods We measured the body temperatures of 20,231 individuals of squamates in the field while they were active. We examined how body temperatures vary with substrate and air temperatures across taxa, climates and behaviours (basking and diel activity). Results Heliothermic lizards had the highest body temperatures. Their body temperatures were the most weakly correlated with substrate and air temperatures. Body temperatures of non‐heliothermic diurnal lizards were similar to heliotherms in relation to air temperature, but similar to nocturnal species in relation to substrate temperatures. The correlation of body temperature with air and substrate temperatures was stronger in diurnal snakes and non‐heliothermic lizards than in heliotherms. Body‐substrate and body‐air temperature correlations varied with mean annual temperatures in all diurnal squamates, especially in heliotherms. Thermal relations vary with behaviour (heliothermy, nocturnality) in cold climates but converge towards the same relation in warm climates. Non‐heliotherms and nocturnal species body temperatures are better explained by substrate temperature than by air temperature. Body temperature distributions become left‐skewed in warmer‐bodied species, especially in colder climates. Main Conclusions Squamate body temperatures, their frequency distributions and their relation to environmental temperature, are globally influenced by behavioural and climatic factors. For all temperatures and climates, heliothermic species' body temperatures are consistently higher and more stable than in other species, but in regions with warmer climate these differences become less pronounced. A comparable variation was found in non‐heliotherms, but in not nocturnal species whose body temperatures were similar to air and substrate irrespective of the macroclimatic context.
ISSN:	1466-822X 1466-8238 1466-822X
DOI:	10.1111/geb.13808