The effect of shielding the parietal eye of Podarcis muralis on behavioral thermoregulation

Abstract

1. 1. Body temperatures ( T bs) and thermoregulatory precision of 7 sham shielded and 7 parietal eye shielded Podarcis muralis were measured in a linear thigmothermal gradient over a 24 h period. 2. 2. Shielding the parietal eye did not alter the mean T b selected over the 24 h period. 3. 3. Both groups selected T bs that did not differ between photophase and scotophase. 4. 4. Shielding the parietal eye did not influence thermoregulatory precision when measured over the 12 h of photophase, but from 0600–1200 h EST parietal eye shielded lizards thermoregulated more precisely than sham shielded lizards.