Low repeatability of preferred body temperature in four species of Cordylid lizards: Temporal variation and implications for adaptive significance

摘要: Preferred body temperatures (Tsel) of ectotherms are important for ecological and evolutionary studies. In lizards, the measurement Tsel is controversial several reasons, generally related to hypotheses addressing how may evolve in wild. Although seldom explicitly tested, adaptation local climate require that meets conditions natural selection, which include repeatability, heritability a link fitness. Here, we investigated repeatability (τ, intra-class correlation coefficient) at time-scales using four Cordylid species from heterogeneous thermal habitats. there was significant inter-individual variation within days (P 0.05). Repeatability low all (from 0 0.482) when compared against other estimates literature. Irrespective calculated, it showed inconsistent variable temporal effects across species. Furthermore, did not change with acclimation laboratory conditions. These data have implications understanding evolution thermoregulation these ectotherms.