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Comparative Energetics Of Mammalian Thermoregulatory Physiology, Ana M. Breit
Comparative Energetics Of Mammalian Thermoregulatory Physiology, Ana M. Breit
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Endothermy allows species to decouple body temperature from environmental
temperatures but does not equate to endothermic species maintaining those constant temperatures. Instead, heterothermy fluctuating body temperatures, both in and outside of torpor is common and allows endotherms to expand the limits of thermoneutrality. Thermolability is likely to be more common in the tropics and subtropics, where species live within or above their thermoneutral zone. My dissertation research focused on the heterothermic-homeothermic continuum, specifically quantifying where on the continuum different species fall at certain times and why those species have evolved to be at those points. I quantified the thermal profile …
Plasticity And The Impact Of Increasing Temperature On A Tropical Ectotherm, Adam A. Rosso
Plasticity And The Impact Of Increasing Temperature On A Tropical Ectotherm, Adam A. Rosso
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Organisms may respond to climate change through behavior, genetic adaptation, and/or phenotypic plasticity. Tropical ectotherms are thought to be especially vulnerable to climate change because most have a narrow range of thermal tolerance while living close to their upper thermal tolerance limits. Additionally, many tropical species live in closed-canopy forests, which provide homogenous thermal landscapes that prevent behavioral compensation for stressfully warm temperatures. Finally, tropical ectotherms are thought to have decreased capacity for phenotypic plasticity because they have evolved in thermally stable environments. We tested gene expression patterns and phenotypic plasticity in the Panamanian slender anole by a) measuring changes …