Amphibian and Reptile Adaptations to the Environment: Interplay Between Physiology and Behavior

Features

• Discusses the interplay between physiology, ecology, and behavior, and how it might be influential for the conservation of amphibians and reptiles
• Summarizes the advances and the current status of the scientific research on the different subjects treated
• Explores animal behavior adaptations globally
• Examines how ectothermy is associated with behavioral strategies for regulating body temperature and its link to low levels of metabolic activity
• Assists in worldwide conservation efforts through the application of basic scientific information

Summary

Despite their diversity, amphibians and reptiles share many physiological traits, such as their dependence on external heat sources for body temperature regulation, that are of pivotal importance to their ability to cope with the environment. Considerable variation in physiological capabilities exists in these groups and often can be related to seasonal and geographic differences in environmental parameters. This book provides a comprehensive and integrative view of the interplay between physiology and behavior in amphibians and reptiles, leading to a better understanding of the subject.

The book covers topics that have recently been in the spotlight for scientific research on the physiology, behavior, and conservation of amphibians and reptiles. It brings together recent information from a range of disciplines that address critical topics for understanding their biology. As these studies are scattered across articles in specialized journals, this book provides a single and expanded source summarizing such advancements.

Amphibian and Reptile Adaptations to the Environment: Interplay Between Physiology and Behavior maintains a solid scientific basis for the biological topics covered. However, it presents the material in a clear and direct manner so that it is accessible even to non-biologists interested in the basic biology, behavior, and ecology of these animals as well as how these elements are connected to their conservation.

Table of Contents

Behavior and Physiology: An Ecological and Evolutionary Viewpoint on the Energy and Water Relations of Ectothermic Amphibians and Reptiles
Harvey B. Lillywhite

Acclimation, Acclimatization, and Seasonal Variation in Amphibians and Reptiles
Alexander G. Little and Frank Seebacher

Physiological and Biochemical Correlates of Calling Behavior in Anurans with Different Calling Strategies
Catherine R. Bevier

Digestive Physiology in Reptiles with Special Reference to Pythons
Sanne Enok, Lasse Stærdal Simonsen, Peter Funch, Aksel Kruse, Jens Frederik Dahlerup, and Tobias Wang

Effects of Feeding on the Respiration of Ectothermic Vertebrates
José Eduardo de Carvalho, Denis Vieira de Andrade, and William K. Milsom

Temperature Effects on the Metabolism of Amphibians and Reptiles: Caveats and Recommendations
Denis Vieira de Andrade

Physiological Ecology and Conservation of Anuran Amphibians
Carlos A. Navas, Fernando R. Gomes, and Eleonora Aguiar De Domenico

Assessing the Physiological Sensitivity of Amphibians to Extreme Environmental Change Using the Stress Endocrine Responses
Edward J. Narayan

Editor(s) Bio

Denis Vieira de Andrade earned his BS in biology and his PhD in zoology, both at the University of São Paulo State in Rio Claro, São Paulo, Brazil. Since 1997, he has worked at the same institution where he is now an associate professor of animal physiology in the Department of Zoology. His research interests focus on the ecophysiology, natural history, behavior, and conservation of amphibians and reptiles.

Catherine R. Bevier earned her BS in biology at Indiana University and PhD in ecology at the University of Connecticut. She is an associate professor of biology and has been at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, since 1999. Bevier’s current research focuses on behavioral and physiological ecology of amphibians and investigations of the complex relationship between frogs and the pathogenic chytrid fungus.

José Eduardo de Carvalho graduated with a BS in biological sciences at the University of São Paulo, Brazil, where he also earned his MS and PhD in animal physiology. He was a postdoctoral fellow at São Paulo State University in Rio Claro, Brazil, and at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. He is currently a professor of comparative animal physiology at the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), Campus Diadema, conducting research in ecophysiology and comparative biochemistry.