Snakes that can ingest prey that are proportionally large have high metabolic rates during digestion. This great increase in metabolic rate (specific dynamic action – SDA) may create a significant augment in the animal’s body temperature. The present study investigated postprandial thermogenesis in Bothrops moojeni. Briefly, two groups of snakes were fed meals equivalent to 17 ± 3% and 32 ± 5% ...

R. ALEXANDER PYRON, R. GRAHAM REYNOLDS & FRANK T. BURBRINK 1 Dept. of Biological Sciences, The George Washington University, 2023 G St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20052; Email: [email protected] 2Dept. of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology & Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138; Email: [email protected] 3Dept. of Biology, The Gradua...

The aim of the present study is to report morphological data from parasitic female, rhabditoid and filarioid larvae, free-living female worms and eggs of Strongyloides ophidiae (Nematoda, Strongyloididae). In addition, a molecular DNA analysis was carried out using a pool of eight S. ophidiae parasitic females. Samples were obtained from the small intestine of Oxyrhopus guibei (Serpentes, Colub...

We provide phylogenetic analyses for primary Reptilia lineages including, for the first time, Sphenodon punctatus (tuatara) using data from whole mitochondrial genomes. Our analyses firmly support a sister relationship between Sphenodon and Squamata, which includes lizards and snakes. Using Sphenodon as an outgroup for select squamates, we found evidence indicating a sister relationship, among ...