You probably did not hear the two candidates for President talk extensively about the issue of climate change. The topic is very controversial on the national stage so candidates tend to shy away from the topic while campaigning in energy producing battleground states. The impact of Climate Change has global consequences ranging flooding, desertification and ecosystem biodiversity health. In these few pages I will be focusing on just one portion of the effects of climate change, how it effects ectotherms.
Ectotherms are animals which rely upon external sources for heat. These are the lizards, turtles, snakes, amphibians etc. Humans fall under endothermic as we can produce our own heat and more specifically as homeotherms because we maintain a constant temperature (13). This blog focuses in on a species in the order Squamata. In this order you find many of the species that are referred to as reptiles. A popular specimen for the effect of climate change on ectotherms is the Amazon Lava Lizard (Tropidurus torquatus).
T. torquatus is not in any immediate danger itself from climate change and is rated as Least Concern by the IUCN redlist (7). It is however one of the most abundant in its family and its range includes most of the Amazon rainforest. It will be used as a model for ectotherm response to increasing temperatures in the tropics.
Range of T. torquatus
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| (7)(http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/178619/0) |
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