Cloacal evaporative cooling: a previously undescribed means of increasing evaporative water loss at higher temperatures in a desert ectotherm, the Gila monster Heloderma suspectum.

Water supplementation affects the behavioral and physiological ecology of Gila monsters (Heloderma suspectum) in the Sonoran Desert.

In desert species, seasonal peaks in animal activity often correspond with times of higher rainfall. However, the underlying reason for such seasonality can be hard to discern because the rainy season is often associated with shifts in temperature as well as water and food availability. We used a combination of the natural climate pattern of the Sonoran Desert and periodic water supplementation...

The urinary bladder as a physiological reservoir that moderates dehydration in a large desert lizard, the Gila monster Heloderma suspectum.

Animals inhabiting xeric environments use a variety of behavioral and physiological strategies to balance water budgets. We studied the potential contribution of the urinary bladder to osmoregulation in a large desert lizard, the Gila monster Heloderma suspectum. Here we present results of a series of in vivo laboratory experiments which tested the hypothesis that the Gila monster urinary bladd...

Seasonal Patterns of Body Condition, Hydration State, and Activity of Gila Monsters (Heloderma suspectum) at a Sonoran Desert Site

—Animals in nature use synergistic behavioral and physiological responses to cope with variation in resource availability. We used a combination of traditional tools (i.e., radiotelemetry, bodycondition measurements, plasma osmometry, and direct observation) and contemporary techniques (i.e., implanted temperature loggers and portable ultrasonography) to identify seasonal patterns of body condi...

Drs. S. Weir Mitchell and Edward T. Reichert on the Poison of Heloderma Suspectum (Cope), the Gila Monster

The impact of humidity on evaporative cooling in small desert birds exposed to high air temperatures.

Environmental temperatures that exceed body temperature (Tb) force endothermic animals to rely solely on evaporative cooling to dissipate heat. However, evaporative heat dissipation can be drastically reduced by environmental humidity, imposing a thermoregulatory challenge. The goal of this study was to investigate the effects of humidity on the thermoregulation of desert birds and to compare t...