Patterns of Body Temperature in Wild Freshwater Crocodiles, Crocodylus johnstoni: Thermoregulation versus Thermoconformity, Seasonal Acclimatization, and the Effect of Social Interactions

Annual and seasonal survival of adult female Mottled Ducks in southern Florida, USA

“…Surface/volume considerations suggest such phenomena, and many authors discuss the relationship between crocodilian size and thermoregulation (Spotila et al, 1973;Smith, 1975Smith, , 1976Grigg, 1977;Johnson et al, 1978;Smith and Adams, 1978;Bartholomew, 1982;Grigg et al, 1998;Grigg et al, 1999). However, we were unable to investigate the social dimensions of thermoregulation, and if larger alligators have more choice of thermal microhabitats, then the effect of size on T b 's may be socially mediated (Seebacher and Grigg, 1997). Since our 3 ENP alligators were larger than average, the apparent size effect might be confounded by area.…”

“…And the alligator-sample should be crossclassified by habitat, size, and gender, with sufficient replicates. Obviously the correlation of alligator and environmental temperatures would be more meaningful if the researcher recorded locations and behaviors of each animal (Seebacher and Grigg, 1997), preferably across several years since inter-annual variations in alligator habitat are substantial (Howarter, unpubl. data).…”

External injuries of Morelet’s crocodile Crocodylus moreletii in Campeche, Mexico

“…In the CETMAR, crowding of crocodiles was evident with densities exceeding 4 crocodiles per m 2 in some enclosures with juveniles and subadults. Crowding might indeed predispose subadults to stress (Hutton & Webb 1992, Seebacher & Grigg 1997) and affect social interactions regardless of the fact that C. moreletii is considered highly tolerant to conspecifics (Lang 1987). An additional driver of agonistic interaction results from mixing crocodiles of different ages/sizes.…”

“…A major characteristic of this population is the existence of dominance hierarchies (Lang 1987). Given the social nature of crocodilians, behavioral exhibitions are interactive (Seebacher & Grigg 1997). Crocodiles often engage in agonistic inter actions, which regularly result in subordinate individuals with wounds being chased away (Lang 1987).…”

A note on the Australian freshwater crocodiles inhabiting Tunnel Creek cave, West Kimberley

“…In the dry season of September 2013, when one spring was not fl owing, we observed clear signs of crocodiles coming up to the section with the collapsed roof, arguably for basking. However, it is likely that the crocodiles occupying the Tunnel Creek cave are mainly following a thermoconformity pattern where the body temperature equals water temperature (Seebacher and Grigg 1997), as the conditions inside the cave may not support active thermoregulation.…”