First Advisor

Stanley S. Hillman

Date of Publication

1981

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (M.S.) in Biology

Department

Biology

Language

English

Subjects

Northern alligator lizard, Lizards -- Physiology, Metabolism, Body temperature -- Regulation

DOI

10.15760/etd.3139

Physical Description

1 online resource (45 p.)

Abstract

The effect of total metabolic cost expenditures on the precision of behavioral thermoregulation was investigated for the purportedly eurythermic Northern Alligator lizard (Gerrhonotus coeruleus). An operant apparatus was designed to test metabolic output at different heat reinforcement magnitudes. The mean TB reflected in each trial was positively correlated to the length of reinforcement. The shuttle rate during each trial was inversely correlated to the length of reinforcement. The standard deviation and total metabolic costs did not vary significantly between trials undertaken at the same ambient temperature. Eurythermality in G. coeruleus is caused by fluctuations in preferred body temperature and not by fluctuations around this temperature. The metabolic cost of behavioral thermoregulation did not change with corresponding changes in reinforcement magnitude. This indicates that eurythermality is the recorded effect of lizards behaviorally regulating to different TB in a stenothermic manner, rather than of random TB fluctuations in a wide range of normal activity (the classical view of eurythermality).

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Comments

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Persistent Identifier

http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/18276

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