Low Metabolic Rate in a Nocturnal Desert Lizard, Anarbylus switaki Murphy (Sauria: Gekkonidae)

Authors

Robert W. Putnam, Wright State University - Main CampusFollow
Robert W. Murphy

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1982

Abstract

1. Metabolic rates were measured in two xeric-adapted gekkonid lizards, Anarbylus switaki and Coleonyx variegatus.

2. Standard metabolic rates (SMR) were 0.074 ml O₂/g hr in A. switaki and were 70% of the value predicted on the basis of mass from regression equations. The SMR of 0.146ml O₂/g hr in C. variegatusis similar to the predicted value for a lizard of this mass.

3. During intense activity, metabolic rates of 0.378 and 0.804ml O₂/g hr were measured in A. switakiand C. variegatus, respectively.

4. Various theories to explain reduced SMR in lizards are discussed, and it is concluded that none is entirely satisfactory, and caution should be exercised in interpreting the adaptive significance of reduced SMR.

Repository Citation

Putnam, R. W., & Murphy, R. W. (1982). Low Metabolic Rate in a Nocturnal Desert Lizard, Anarbylus switaki Murphy (Sauria: Gekkonidae). Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Physiology, 71 (1), 119-123.
https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/ncbp/751

DOI

10.1016/0300-9629(82)90376-0