Thermal biology of Indian rock pythons in tropical India

IF 1.6 3区生物学 Q2 ZOOLOGY

Zoology Pub Date : 2025-02-01 DOI:10.1016/j.zool.2025.126241

C.S. Vishnu , Chinnasamy Ramesh , Merin Jacob, Vedagiri Thirumurugan , Gautam Talukdar

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Temperature plays a crucial role in the physiology of snakes. However, only very limited studies on python thermal biology have been carried out in tropical regions. Here we recorded body temperature (BT) changes of the celomic cavity with respect to atmospheric temperature (AT) and relative humidity (RH) of five Indian Rock pythons Python molurus in the field. The monitoring of the pythons’ thermal ecology lasted throughout 2019 and 2020 and included all seasons i.e., monsoon, post-monsoon and summer. We tagged 13 Pythons with iButtons, but we were only able to retrieve data from five individuals. The AT and RH contributed significantly to the maintenance of the pythons’ BT. Generally, python BT positively related to the AT and negatively to RH i.e., an increasing AT led to an increasing python BT, while an increasing RH led to a decreasing BT. RH played a crucial role in python body temperature regulation; this could be attributed to the high humidity during the rainfall. Python BT varied inter-seasonally and individually, indicating that python BT varied according to the surrounding AT. However, BT differed between the sexes. Our study provides baseline information for further studies on how environmental factors affect the physiology of large -bodied snakes in tropical climates.

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热带印度岩蟒的热生物学

温度对蛇的生理机能起着至关重要的作用。然而，对热带地区蟒蛇热生物学的研究非常有限。本文记录了野外5种印度岩蟒的体腔温度随大气温度和相对湿度的变化。对蟒蛇热生态的监测持续了整个2019年和2020年，包括所有季节，即季风、季风后和夏季。我们用iButtons标记了13条蟒蛇，但我们只能从5个人那里检索到数据。温度和相对湿度对蟒蛇的体温维持有显著的促进作用，蟒蛇的体温与温度呈正相关，与相对湿度呈负相关，即温度的增加导致蟒蛇的体温增加，相对湿度的增加导致蟒蛇的体温下降，相对湿度对蟒蛇体温的调节起着至关重要的作用；这可能归因于降雨期间的高湿度。蟒蛇BT随季节变化和个体变化，表明蟒蛇BT随周围AT变化。然而，BT在两性之间存在差异。我们的研究为进一步研究环境因素如何影响热带气候下大型蛇的生理提供了基础信息。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Zoology 生物-动物学

CiteScore

3.90

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

70 days

期刊介绍： Zoology is a journal devoted to experimental and comparative animal science. It presents a common forum for all scientists who take an explicitly organism oriented and integrative approach to the study of animal form, function, development and evolution. The journal invites papers that take a comparative or experimental approach to behavior and neurobiology, functional morphology, evolution and development, ecological physiology, and cell biology. Due to the increasing realization that animals exist only within a partnership with symbionts, Zoology encourages submissions of papers focused on the analysis of holobionts or metaorganisms as associations of the macroscopic host in synergistic interdependence with numerous microbial and eukaryotic species. The editors and the editorial board are committed to presenting science at its best. The editorial team is regularly adjusting editorial practice to the ever changing field of animal biology.