Influence of water vapor pressure on the apparent capacity for physiological thermoregulation in reptiles

Abstract

The rate of body temperature change was determined as lizards,Dipsosaurus dorsalis, were heated and cooled between 20 and 40 ° C, at various ambient water vapor pressures (WVP). While changes in WVP did not affect the rate of cooling, the rate of temperature change during heating increased exponentially with increasing WVP (Fig. 4). The ratio of the rate of body temperature change during cooling to the rate of change during heating was reduced 48% in dead animals and 36% in live animals by increasing the WVP during heating from 8 to 47 mm Hg (Fig. 5).