The Herpetological Journal is the Society's prestigious quarterly scientific journal. Articles are listed in Biological Abstracts, Current Awareness in Biological Sciences,Current Contents, Science Citation Index, and Zoological Record.
ISSN 0268-0130
2021 Impact Factor from Clarivate for the Herpetological Journal is 1.194, an increase of 0.332 from 2020.
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pp. 91-94
Authors: Campos, Zilca & Magnusson, William E.
Abstract: We studied the emergence and basking behaviour of Pantanal caimans (Caiman crocodilus yacare) in relation to temperature. In the cold season, caimans were exposed to the sun, and air temperatures higher than water temperatures suggest that emergence behaviour may be due to thermoregulation. In the dry season, most (66%) emergent caimans were found in the shade between 1000 and 1500, and body temperatures rarely exceeded water temperatures. Caimans also emerged at night, although body temperatures were highly correlated (r=0.974, P<0.001) with water temperatures, suggesting that emergence is related to factors other than thermoregulation.
Keywords: SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR, CONSERVATION, BASKING, PANTANAL CAIMAN