Aaron N. Rice¹, T. Luther Roberts IV², and Michael E. Dorcas^*,

Department of Biology, Davidson College, Davidson, NC 28035-7118, USA

Abstract
1. Establishing if and how organisms modulate temperature changes is an important component of understanding their thermal biology.

2. We used temperature-sensitive radio-transmitters to monitor heating and cooling rates between
5 and 35 °C of four Crotalus adamanteus in the laboratory.

3. We found no difference between heating and cooling rates in C. adamanteus. Additionally, rates of temperature change mirrored those of a biophysical model, further suggesting a lack of physiological thermoregulation.

4. Our findings contrast previously published studies that demonstrate active temperature control of similarly sized reptiles and demonstrate a need for more investigations of physiological thermoregulation in reptiles.

 

Keywords
Crotalus adamanteus; Cooling; Heating; Physiology; Radiotelemetry; Rattlesnake; Temperature; Thermoregulation

 

Corresponding author.
Tel.: +1 704 892 2727; fax: +1 704 892 2512.
Email address: midorcas@davidson.edu (M.E. Dorcas)

¹Present Address
Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, 1027 E. 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA and Department of Zoology, Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605, USA.

²Present Address
Department of Orthodontics, Virginia Commonwealth University, 520 N. 12th St., P.O. Box 980566, Richmond, VA 23298-0566, USA.