Variation in thermal relations between two populations of the sand lizard, Acanthodactylus boskianus living in thermally divergent habitats of the same altitude
2003
Mahmoud, A.D. (Alexandria Univ. (Egypt). Dept. of Biological and Geological Sciences)
Body temperature, microhabitat selection and thermoregulatory behaviour of field-active Acanthodactylus boskianus were evaluated for two sites at approximately equal elevation in El-Omayed region, west of Alexandria, on the west Mediterranean coastal region of Egypt: A. boskianus at coastal sand dunes had significantly lower body temperatures than those at second rocky ridge. The slope of a regression of body temperature on air temperature was significantly different between the two populations. The microhabitats in which individuals were first observed correlated with body temperatures at the coastal sand dunes, but not at the second rocky ridge. These data suggest that environmental temperature differences between sites influenced body temperature, thermoregulatory behaviour and microhabitat selection in A. boskianus.
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