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Interseasonal variation in the circadian rhythms of locomotor activity and temperature selection in sleepy lizards, Tiliqua rugosa

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Abstract

Few studies in non-mammalian vertebrates have examined how various effectors of the circadian system interact. To determine if the daily locomotor and behavioural thermoregulatory rhythms of Tiliqua rugosa are both controlled by the circadian system in different seasons, lizards were tested in laboratory thermal gradients in four seasons and in constant darkness. Circadian rhythmicity for both rhythms was present in each season, being most pronounced in spring and summer and least evident in autumn. Most lizards displayed a unimodal locomotor activity pattern across all seasons. However, some individuals presented a bimodal locomotor activity pattern in spring and summer. Seasonal variations in the phase relationships of both rhythms to the light:dark (LD) cycle were demonstrated. No seasonal differences in the free-running period lengths of either rhythm were detected, raising the possibility that a single circadian pacemaker drives both rhythms in this species. Our present results demonstrate that both rhythms are similarly controlled by the circadian system in each season. Although seasonal variations in the thermal preferences of reptiles both in the field and laboratory have previously been well documented, this study is the first to demonstrate circadian rhythms of temperature selection in a reptile species in each season.

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Acknowledgments

This research project was supported by the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Adelaide and a Faculty of Health Sciences Postgraduate Research Scholarship to David Ellis. The research was approved by the University of Adelaide Animal Ethics Committee (M/79/2004) and the South Australian Department of Environment and Heritage (Z24971_1 and Z24971_2).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Discipline of Anatomical Sciences, School of Medical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia

    David J. Ellis & Bruce T. Firth

  2. School of Nursing and Midwifery, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, 5001, Australia

    Ingrid Belan

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  1. David J. Ellis
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  2. Bruce T. Firth
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  3. Ingrid Belan
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Correspondence to David J. Ellis.

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Ellis, D.J., Firth, B.T. & Belan, I. Interseasonal variation in the circadian rhythms of locomotor activity and temperature selection in sleepy lizards, Tiliqua rugosa . J Comp Physiol A 194, 701–712 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-008-0341-3

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