Thermal biology of Liolaemus occipitalis (Squamata, Tropiduridae) in the coastal sand dunes of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

The thermal biology of the small sand lizard, Liolaemus occipitalis, was studied in the coastal sand dunes at Quintão Beach (Palmares do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; 30° 24' S and 50° 17' W), between September, 1998 and August, 1999. Liolaemus occipitalis presented a mean body temperature of 30.89 °C (SD = 4.43 °C; min = 16.4 °C; max = 40.2 °C; N = 270), that varied on a daily and seasonal basis according to microhabitat thermal alterations. The substrate temperature was the main heat source for thermoregulation of L. occipitalis as in all seasons of the year it was responsible for the animals' temperature variation (82% of the collected lizards in the spring; 60% in the summer; 84% in the fall and 68% in the winter). The results indicate that L. occipitalis is a saxicolous, thigmothermic and heliothermic species that regulates its body temperature through behavioral mechanisms

Observações sobre o comportamento de Liolaemus occipitalis em cativeiro (Sauria, Tropiduridae) Observations on the behavior of Liolaemus occipitaus in captivity (Sauria, Tropiduridae)

<abstract language="eng">Liolaemus occipitalis (Boulenger, 1885) is an abundant lizard lbundalong lhe coastal dunes of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Fourteen individuais were manually captured in the dunes of Quintão beach (Palmares do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul) and studied in captivity from 23/VII/92 to 30/VII/93. They were kept in a terrarium with sand substrate and vegetation collected in their habitat. Snout-vent length (SVL) and wcighted were measured weekly. They received Tenebrio molitor (Linnaeus, 1758) worms as food; water was abundant. Combats between males for food and territory, and other behavioral displays were observed, like copulation and nesting behaviors. Growth curves for each lizard were analyzed