Amphibian Temperature Regulation Studies in the Field and Laboratory

Studies on thermoregulation in the laboratory and field havecome a long way from the early work done between 1940 and 1960.While some physiological studies on amphibians have progressedat the same rate as those on reptiles, field studies have beenfar behind. Laboratory studies have largely delt with thermalacclimation, evaporative water loss, and thermal and moisturegradient behavior. Field studies, following early summariesof body temperatures of field animals, have stressed behavioralthermoregulation; yet, detailed studies on behavioral thermoregulationin amphibians have been completed for only a handful of species.A few studies have placed behavioral and physiological thermoregulationinto an ecological or energetic framework; these studies arereviewed, and suggestions are made for future work.     

The Evolution of Reptilian Social Behavior

Reptiles display a diversity of behavior that is reflectiveof their evolutionary heritage from fish and amphibians andtheir ancestral contribution to the diversity found in birdsand mammals. Much of the behavior observed in reptiles seemsspecific to the ecological setting within which they live. Asa result, a diversity of behavior is found in each of the groupsof modern reptiles. Recent studies on the social behavior oflizards have proved them capable of a variety of behavioralpostures, sequences, and sociality that exceeds that found insome mammals and birds. While many species of lizards are territorial,others are hierarchial and some have harems. For all those territorialspecies studied, crowding results in increased social interaction,increased aggression, and a switch to hierarchial behavior. While smell and sound may be important stimuli for social behaviorin some reptiles, posture, actions, and especially color appearto be most important in diurnal lizards. Temperature and energystudies suggest that the large extinct dinosaurs probably foughtconsiderably less than commonly portrayed in movies and stories,but were also probably much more brightly colored than commonlyshown in reconstructions.