Turtles ( Chelodina longicollis ) regulate muscle metabolic enzyme activity in response to seasonal variation in body temperature

Fluctuations in the thermal environment may elicit different responses in animals: migration to climatically different areas, regulation of body temperature, modification of biochemical reaction rates, or assuming a state of dormancy. Many ectothermic reptiles are active over a range of body temperatures that vary seasonally. Here we test the hypothesis that metabolic enzyme activity acclimatises seasonally in freshwater turtles (Chelodina longicollis) in addition to, or instead of, behavioural regulation of body temperatures. We measured body temperatures in free-ranging turtles (n = 3) by radiotelemetry, and we assayed phosphofructokinase (PFK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), citrate synthase (CS) and cytochrome c oxidase (CCO) activities in early autumn (March, n = 10 turtles), late autumn (May, n = 7) and mid-winter (July, n = 7) over a range of assay temperatures (10 degrees C, 15 degrees C, 20 degrees C, 25 degrees C). Body temperatures were either not different from, or higher than expected from a theoretical null-distribution of a randomly moving animal. Field body temperatures at any season were lower, however, than expected from animals that maximised their sun exposure. Turtles maintained constant PFK, LDH and CCO activities in different months, despite body temperature differences of nearly 13.0 degrees C between March (average daily body temperature = 24.4 degrees C) and July (average = 11.4 degrees C). CS activity did not vary between March and May (average daily body temperature = 20.2 degrees C), but it decreased in July. Thus C. longicollis use a combination of behavioural thermoregulation and biochemical acclimatisation in response to seasonally changing thermal conditions. Ectothermic reptiles were often thought not to acclimatise biochemically, and our results show that behavioural attainment of a preferred body temperature is not mandatory for activity or physiological performance in turtles.

Prostaglandins are important in thermoregulation of a reptile (Pogona vitticeps)

The effectiveness of behavioural thermoregulation in reptiles is amplified by cardiovascular responses, particularly by differential rates of heart beat in response to heating and cooling (heart-rate hysteresis). Heart-rate hysteresis is ecologically important in most lineages of ectothermic reptile, and we demonstrate that heart-rate hysteresis in the lizard Pogona vitticeps is mediated by prostaglandins. In a control treatment (administration of saline), heart rates during heating were significantly faster than during cooling at any given body temperature. When cyclooxygenase 1 and 2 enzymes were inhibited, heart rates during heating were not significantly different from those during cooling. Administration of agonists showed that thromboxane B(2) did not have a significant effect on heart rate, but prostacyclin and prostaglandin F(2alpha) caused a significant increase (3.5 and 13.6 beats min(-1), respectively) in heart rate compared with control treatments. We speculate that heart-rate hysteresis evolved as a thermoregulatory mechanism that may ultimately be controlled by neurally induced stimulation of nitric oxide production, or maybe via photolytically induced production of vitamin D.

Energetic cost of a meal in a frequent feeding lizard

Specific dynamic action (SDA) describes the rise in metabolism following feeding in animals and represents the energetic cost of digesting and assimilating a meal. The overall energetic cost of feeding may depend on whether or not an animal is post-absorptive at the time of feeding. The aim of this study was to compare the energetic cost of SDA due to feeding frequently compared with infrequently in the eastern water skink, Eulamprus quoyii. For similar quantities of food, repeated feeding incurred an energetic cost equal to 8.8% of the metabolizable energy of the meal (25,220 J), while single feeding incurred an energetic cost of 9.4% of the metabolizable energy of the meal (26,072 J). Experimental lizards maintained a rise in (VO2) that was on average 1.8 times greater than the (VO2) of the unfed controls over a 50-h interval as a result of feeding frequently. This prolonged rise in metabolism resulting from frequent feeding does not result in a higher energetic cost of SDA compared with that resulting from infrequent single feeding.

Body temperature null distributions in reptiles with nonzero heat capacity: seasonal thermoregulation in the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)

Regulation of body temperature may increase fitness of animals by ensuring that biochemical and physiological processes proceed at an optimal rate. The validity of current methods of testing whether or not thermoregulation in reptiles occurs is often limited to very small species that have near zero heat capacity. The aim of this study was to develop a method that allows estimation of body temperature null distributions of large reptiles and to investigate seasonal thermoregulation in the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis). Continuous body temperature records of wild alligators were obtained from implanted dataloggers in winter (n=7, mass range: 1.6-53.6 kg) and summer (n=7, mass range: 1.9-54.5 kg). Body temperature null distributions were calculated by randomising behavioural postures, thereby randomly altering relative animal surface areas exposed to different avenues of heat transfer. Core body temperatures were predicted by calculations of transient heat transfer by conduction and blood flow. Alligator body temperatures follow regular oscillations during the day. Occasionally, body temperature steadied during the day to fall within a relatively narrow range. Rather than indicating shuttling thermoregulation, however, this pattern could be predicted from random movements. Average daily body temperature increases with body mass in winter but not in summer. Daily amplitudes of body temperature decrease with increasing body mass in summer but not in winter. These patterns result from differential exposure to heat transfer mechanisms at different seasons. In summer, alligators are significantly cooler than predictions for a randomly moving animal, and the reverse is the case in winter. Theoretical predictions show, however, that alligators can be warmer in winter if they maximised their sun exposure. We concluded that alligators may not rely exclusively on regulation of body temperature but that they may also acclimatise biochemically to seasonally changing environmental conditions.

The effect of heat transfer mode on heart rate responses and hysteresis during heating and cooling in the estuarine crocodile Crocodylus porosus

The effect of heating and cooling on heart rate in the estuarine crocodile Crocodylus porosus was studied in response to different heat transfer mechanisms and heat loads. Three heating treatments were investigated. C. porosus were: (1) exposed to a radiant heat source under dry conditions; (2) heated via radiant energy while half-submerged in flowing water at 23 degrees C and (3) heated via convective transfer by increasing water temperature from 23 degrees C to 35 degrees C. Cooling was achieved in all treatments by removing the heat source and with C. porosus half-submerged in flowing water at 23 degrees C. In all treatments, the heart rate of C. porosus increased markedly in response to heating and decreased rapidly with the removal of the heat source. Heart rate during heating was significantly faster than during cooling at any given body temperature, i.e. there was a significant heart rate hysteresis. There were two identifiable responses to heating and cooling. During the initial stages of applying or removing the heat source, there was a dramatic increase or decrease in heart rate ('rapid response'), respectively, indicating a possible cardiac reflex. This rapid change in heart rate with only a small change or no change in body temperature (<0.5 degrees C) resulted in Q(10) values greater than 4000, calling into question the usefulness of this measure on heart rate during the initial stages of heating and cooling. In the later phases of heating and cooling, heart rate changed with body temperature, with Q(10) values of 2-3. The magnitude of the heart rate response differed between treatments, with radiant heating during submergence eliciting the smallest response. The heart rate of C. porosus outside of the 'rapid response' periods was found to be a function of the heat load experienced at the animal surface, as well as on the mode of heat transfer. Heart rate increased or decreased rapidly when C. porosus experienced large positive (above 25 W) or negative (below -15 W) heat loads, respectively, in all treatments. For heat loads between -15 W and 20 W, the increase in heart rate was smaller for the 'unnatural' heating by convection in water compared with either treatment using radiant heating. Our data indicate that changes in heart rate constitute a thermoregulatory mechanism that is modulated in response to the thermal environment occupied by the animal, but that heart rate during heating and cooling is, in part, controlled independently of body temperature.

Seasonal acclimatisation of muscle metabolic enzymes in a reptile (Alligator mississippiensis)

Reptiles living in heterogeneous thermal environments are often thought to show behavioural thermoregulation or to become inactive when environmental conditions prevent the achievement of preferred body temperatures. By contrast, thermally homogeneous environments preclude behavioural thermoregulation, and ectotherms inhabiting these environments (particularly fish in which branchial respiration requires body temperature to follow water temperature) modify their biochemical capacities in response to long-term seasonal temperature fluctuations. Reptiles may also be active at seasonally varying body temperatures and could, therefore, gain selective advantages from regulating biochemical capacities. Hence, we tested the hypothesis that a reptile (the American alligator Alligator mississippiensis) that experiences pronounced seasonal fluctuations in body temperature will show seasonal acclimatisation in the activity of its metabolic enzymes. We measured body temperatures of alligators in the wild in winter and summer (N=7 alligators in each season), and we collected muscle samples from wild alligators (N=31 in each season) for analysis of metabolic enzyme activity (lactate dehydrogenase, citrate synthase and cytochrome c oxidase). There were significant differences in mean daily body temperatures between winter (15.66+/-0.43 degrees C; mean +/- S.E.M.) and summer (29.34+/-0.21 degrees C), and daily body temperatures fluctuated significantly more in winter compared with summer. Alligators compensated for lower winter temperatures by increasing enzyme activities, and the activities of cytochrome c oxidase and lactate dehydrogenase were significantly greater in winter compared with summer at all assay temperatures. The activity of citrate synthase was significantly greater in the winter samples at the winter body temperature (15 degrees C) but not at the summer body temperature (30 degrees C). The thermal sensitivity (Q(10)) of mitochondrial enzymes decreased significantly in winter compared with in summer. The activity of mitochondrial enzymes was significantly greater in males than in females, but there were no differences between sexes for lactate dehydrogenase activity. The differences between sexes could be the result of the sex-specific seasonal demands for locomotor performance. Our data indicate that biochemical acclimatisation is important in thermoregulation of reptiles and that it is not sufficient to base conclusions about their thermoregulatory ability entirely on behavioural patterns.

Ontogenetic changes of swimming kinematics in a semi-aquatic reptile (Crocodylus porosus)

Semi-aquatic animals represent a transitional locomotor condition characterised by the possession of morphological features that allow locomotion both in water and on land. Most ecologically important behaviours of crocodilians occur in the water, raising the question of whether their 'terrestrial construction' constrains aquatic locomotion. Moreover, the demands for aquatic locomotion change with life-history stage. It was the aim of this research to determine the kinematic characteristics and efficiency of aquatic locomotion in different-sized crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus). Aquatic propulsion was achieved primarily by tail undulations, and the use of limbs during swimming was observed only in very small animals or at low swimming velocities in larger animals. Over the range of swimming speeds we examined, tail beat amplitude did not change with increasing velocity, but amplitude increased significantly with body length. However, amplitude expressed relative to body length decreased with increasing body length. Tail beat frequency increased with swimming velocity but there were no differences in frequency between different-sized animals. Mechanical power generated during swimming and thrust increased non-linearly with swimming velocity, but disproportionally so that kinematic efficiency decreased with increasing swimming velocity. The importance of unsteady forces, expressed as the reduced frequency, increased with increasing swimming velocity. Amplitude is the main determinant of body-size-related increases in swimming velocity but, compared with aquatic mammals and fish, crocodiles are slow swimmers probably because of constraints imposed by muscle performance and unsteady forces opposing forward movement. Nonetheless, the kinematic efficiency of aquatic locomotion in crocodiles is comparable to that of fully aquatic mammals, and it is considerably greater than that of semi-aquatic mammals.

Facultative sex allocation in the viviparous lizard Eulamprus tympanum, a species with temperature-dependent sex determination

Females of the Australian scincid lizard Eulamprus tympanum can manipulate the sex of their offspring in response to gender imbalances in the population using temperature-dependent sex determination. Here we show that when adult males are scarce females produced male-biased litters and when adult males were common females produced female-biased litters. The cues used by a female to assess the adult population are not known but presumably depend upon her experience throughout the breeding season. Maternal manipulation of the sex ratio of the offspring in E. tympanum illustrates a selective advantage of temperature-dependent sex determination in a viviparous species.

Control of heart rate during thermoregulation in the heliothermic lizard Pogona barbata: importance of cholinergic and adrenergic mechanisms

During thermoregulation in the bearded dragon Pogona barbata, heart rate when heating is significantly faster than when cooling at any given body temperature (heart rate hysteresis), resulting in faster rates of heating than cooling. However, the mechanisms that control heart rate during heating and cooling are unknown. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that changes in cholinergic and adrenergic tone on the heart are responsible for the heart rate hysteresis during heating and cooling in P. barbata. Heating and cooling trials were conducted before and after the administration of atropine, a muscarinic antagonist, and sotalol, a β-adrenergic antagonist. Cholinergic and β-adrenergic blockade did not abolish the heart rate hysteresis, as the heart rate during heating was significantly faster than during cooling in all cases. Adrenergic tone was extremely high (92.3 %) at the commencement of heating, and decreased to 30.7 % at the end of the cooling period. Moreover, in four lizards there was an instantaneous drop in heart rate (up to 15 beats min–1) as the heat source was switched off, and this drop in heart rate coincided with either a drop in β-adrenergic tone or an increase in cholinergic tone. Rates of heating were significantly faster during the cholinergic blockade, and least with a combined cholinergic and β-adrenergic blockade. The results showed that cholinergic and β-adrenergic systems are not the only control mechanisms acting on the heart during heating and cooling, but they do have a significant effect on heart rate and on rates of heating and cooling.

Changes in heart rate are important for thermoregulation in the varanid lizard Varanus varius

Laboratory studies and a single field study have shown that heart rate in some reptiles is faster during heating than during cooling at any given body temperature. This phenomenon, which has been shown to reflect changes in peripheral blood flow, is shown here to occur in the lizard Varanus varius (lace monitor) in the wild. On a typical clear day, lizards emerged from their shelters in the morning to warm in the sun. Following this, animals were active, moving until they again entered a shelter in the evening. During their period of activity, body temperature was 34-36 degrees C in all six study animals (4.0-5.6 kg), but the animals rarely shuttled between sun and shade exposure. Heart rate during the morning heating period was significantly faster than during the evening cooling period. However, the ratio of heating to cooling heart rate decreased with increasing body temperature, being close to 2 at body temperatures of 22-24 degrees C and decreasing to 1.2-1.3 at body temperatures of 34-36 degrees C. There was a significant decrease in thermal time constants with increasing heart rate during heating and cooling confirming that changes in heart rate are linked to rates of heat exchange.

Heat transfer in a microvascular network: the effect of heart rate on heating and cooling in reptiles (Pogona barbata and Varanus varius)

Thermally-induced changes in heart rate and blood flow in reptiles are believed to be of selective advantage by allowing animal to exert some control over rates of heating and cooling. This notion has become one of the principal paradigms in reptilian thermal physiology. However, the functional significance of changes in heart rate is unclear, because the effect of heart rate and blood flow on total animal heat transfer is not known. I used heat transfer theory to determine the importance of heat transfer by blood flow relative to conduction. I validated theoretical predictions by comparing them with field data from two species of lizard, bearded dragons (Pogona barbata) and lace monitors (Varanus varius). Heart rates measured in free-ranging lizards in the field were significantly higher during heating than during cooling, and heart rates decreased with body mass. Convective heat transfer by blood flow increased with heart rate. Rates of heat transfer by both blood flow and conduction decreased with mass, but the mass scaling exponents were different. Hence, rate of conductive heat transfer decreased more rapidly with increasing mass than did heat transfer by blood flow, so that the relative importance of blood flow in total animal heat transfer increased with mass. The functional significance of changes in heart rate and, hence, rates of heat transfer, in response to heating and cooling in lizards was quantified. For example, by increasing heart rate when entering a heating environment in the morning, and decreasing heart rate when the environment cools in the evening a Pogona can spend up to 44 min longer per day with body temperature within its preferred range. It was concluded that changes in heart rate in response to heating and cooling confer a selective advantage at least on reptiles of mass similar to that of the study animals (0. 21-5.6 kg).

Field test of a paradigm: hysteresis of heart rate in thermoregulation by a free-ranging lizard (Pogona barbata)

The discovery that changes in heart rate and blood flow allow some reptiles to heat faster than they cool has become a central paradigm in our understanding of reptilian thermoregulation. However, this hysteresis in heart rate has been demonstrated only in simplistic laboratory heating and cooling trials, leaving its functional significance in free-ranging animals unproven. To test the validity of this paradigm, we measured heart rate and body temperature (Tb) in undisturbed, free-ranging bearded dragons (Pogona barbata), the species in which this phenomenon was first described. Our field data confirmed the paradigm and we found that heart rate during heating usually exceeded heart rate during cooling at any Tb. Importantly, however, we discovered that heart rate was proportionally faster in cool lizards whose Tb was still well below the 'preferred Tb range' compared to lizards whose Tb was already close to it. Similarly, heart rate during cooling was proportionally slower the warmer the lizard and the greater its cooling potential compared to lizards whose Tb was already near minimum operative temperature. Further, we predicted that, if heart rate hysteresis has functional significance, a 'reverse hysteresis' pattern should be observable when lizards risked overheating. This was indeed the case and, during heating on those occasions when Tb reached very high levels (> 40 degrees C), heart rate was significantly lower than heart rate during the immediately following cooling phase. These results demonstrate that physiological control of thermoregulation in reptiles is more complex than has been previously recognized.

Crocodiles as dinosaurs: behavioural thermoregulation in very large ectotherms leads to high and stable body temperatures

Empirical field data describing daily and seasonal cycles in body temperature (Tb) of free-ranging Crocodylus porosus (32–1010 kg) can be predicted by a mathematical analysis. The analysis provides a mechanistic explanation for the decreased amplitude of daily cycles in Tb and the increase in ‘average’ Tb with increasing mass. Assessments of ‘average’ daily Tb were made by dividing the integral of the difference between measured values of Tb and minimum operative temperature by the period of integration, to yield a thermal index expressing relative ‘warmth’ of crocodiles. The average daily Tb of a 1010 kg crocodile was 3.7 degreesC warmer than that of a 42 kg individual in summer and 1.9 degreesC warmer than that of a 32 kg individual in winter. The success of this mathematical approach confirms that crocodiles are simple ectotherms and that there is unlikely to be a significant contribution to their thermal biology from physiological mechanisms. Behaviour, however, is very important even in large individuals. Crocodiles in the field typically move daily between land and water in cycles that vary seasonally. We predicted Tb for the reverse of these behavioural cycles, which more than doubled seasonal fluctuations in Tb compared with the observed fluctuations. We were also able to predict the Tb of very large, dinosaur-sized crocodiles in a similar climate to that at our study site. A 10 000 kg ‘crocodile’, for example, would be expected to have a Tb of 31 degreesC in winter, varying by less than 0.1 degreesC during a day when operative temperatures varied by nearly 20 degreesC, from 20 to 38 degreesC. The study confirms that, in low latitudes at least, large dinosaurs must have had an essentially high and stable value of Tb, without any need for endothermy. Also, access to shade or water must have been crucial for the survival of large dinosaurs at low latitudes. Furthermore, the finding of increasing ‘average’ Tb as ectotherms grow larger may have implications for the metabolic rates of very large reptiles, because the Q10 effect could counteract the downscaling of metabolic rate with mass, an effect that seems not to have been recognised previously.

Behavioural postures and the rate of body temperature change in wild freshwater crocodiles, Crocodylus johnstoni

I recorded body temperature and behaviour of eight Crocodylus johnstoni in the wild over a 2-yr period in order to quantify the effect of posturing on body temperature and to provide a mechanistic explanation of how behaviour affects body temperature. Behaviour was categorised according to the proportion of a crocodile's surface area exposed from the water (0% exposed [=diving] to 100% exposed [=basking]). Crocodiles did not simply shuttle between the extremes of 100% exposed and diving but showed an array of intermediate postures. Rates of body temperature change were negative for exposures less than 40% and positive for 60%-100% exposed. This was due to the difference between operative temperature and body temperature, which was negative during diving but increased with the percentage of exposure, up to 25 degrees-30 degrees C during basking. For any particular posture, the rate of body temperature change decreased with increasing mass. Thermal time constants were shortest during diving and longest during basking. A heat-transfer equation predicted the rate of body temperature change well, except that it underestimated the rate of body temperature change during 80% and 100% exposed. Exposing only a small part of their body when in water (20%) slowed heat loss considerably, allowing crocodiles to spend more time in the water while maintaining body temperature within their preferred body temperature range.