Body orientation for thermoregulation and daily activity cycle of Mabuya macrorhyncha (Squamata: Scincidae)
Zoologia (Curitiba)
; 35: 1-5, 2018. ilus, graf
Article
em En
| VETINDEX
| ID: vti-18387
Biblioteca responsável:
BR68.1
Localização: BR68.1
ABSTRACT
We investigated the daily activity and thermoregulatory body orientation of Mabuya macrorhyncha (Hoge, 1947), a lizard species that occurs in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. We conducted this investigation in a sandy coastal dune remnant (restinga ecosystem) in Grussaí, state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, during the summer. The daily activity cycle of the lizards started around 600 am and ended before 700 pm. This is longer than observed in other populations of M. macrorhyncha (approximately 700 am to 500 pm). The activity cycle of the lizards was bimodal, with the first peak between 600 and 1100 am and the second from 200 to 700 pm. This contrasts with observations on other populations of this species, which revealed an unimodal pattern. The mean body temperature of M. macrorhyncha in Grussaí was 34.2 ± 1.5 °C, which was comparatively higher than observed in other populations of the species. The differences in the daily activity and of body temperature of these lizards between our study and previous studies on this species may reflect environmental thermal conditions. The mean air and mean substrate temperatures when individuals were active were 27.8 and 30.5 °C respectively. Lizard orientation was significantly correlated with the direction of the solar incidence, suggesting that solar radiation, and particularly behavioral adjustments that maximize exposure to the sun, are important for the thermoregulation of M. macrorhyncha. Circular structures at the site, such as bromeliads, offer microhabitats with different orientations to the sunlight, favoring lizard thermoregulatory behaviors.(AU)
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
VETINDEX
Assunto principal:
Regulação da Temperatura Corporal
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Ciclos de Atividade
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Orientação Espacial
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Lagartos
Limite:
Animals
País/Região como assunto:
America do sul
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Brasil
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Zoologia (Curitiba)
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Zoologia (Curitiba, Impr.)
Ano de publicação:
2018
Tipo de documento:
Article
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Project document