We obtained continuous acceleration and temperature data from four wild snakes over periods of 19 to 95 days (mean 54 ± 33 days). We aimed to establish a technique for monitoring the activity of Burmese pythons in the wild using acceleration data loggers (ADLs), while attempting to identify any behavioral patterns that could be used to help manage this invasive species in the Greater Everglades and South Florida. Efforts to control this population are underway, but are hampered by a lack of information about fine-scale activity cycles and ecology of these cryptic animals in the wild. The establishment of Burmese pythons ( Python bivittatus) in Everglades National Park, Florida, USA, has been connected to a > 90% decline in the mesomammal population in the park and is a major threat to native reptile and bird populations. Tegus' apparent ability for thermal stability expands the adaptability breadth of this species and underscores the invasion threat. merianae over multiple biologically significant time periods and to associate Tb with thermal habitats within its invasive range.
Despite limitations of these descriptive data, this is the first study finely detailing Tb of a population of wild, free‐ranging S. One individual did not hibernate, representing only the second record of this behavior. Though we detected no sex differences, larger animals started hibernation sooner, stayed in hibernation longer, and retained higher fat stores over the study period. Hibernal ingress and egress were best predicted by temperature differentials between exposed soil and ambient daily mean temperatures (Te − Ta) and daylength. Variation in Tb was lowest during hibernation and cold snaps and was less variable than subsurface temperatures despite not leaving their hibernaculum. We found tegus maintained thermal stability throughout the hibernal period, frequently at temperatures above available thermal microhabitats. We evaluated thermal and behavioral data and identified five biologically significant periods: pre‐hibernal, hibernal, cold snaps, hibernal‐basking, and post‐hibernal.
We used radiotelemetry and trail cameras to verify aboveground behaviors, and temperature dataloggers to monitor surface (sun‐exposed and shaded ), ambient (Ta), subsurface ground (Th), and internal body (Tb) temperatures of a population of free‐ranging tegus over several seasons. merianae within their invaded range in southern Florida, USA. Tegus undergo winter dormancy (hibernation) to cope with colder temperatures, and while this behavior may facilitate invasion into more temperate regions, it may also present management opportunities. They are well suited to the climate of southeastern United States, introduced to several disjunct areas, including the Everglades, where their voracious appetite threatens native wildlife. The Argentine giant tegu (Salvator merianae tegu) is a large omnivorous lizard from South America that is prolific, long‐lived, vagile, and highly adaptable to disturbed environments.
For those alien species that also exhibit high phenotypic plasticity, such as habitat generalists, adaptations in response to environmental pressures can take place relatively quickly. Invasive species globally threaten biodiversity and economies, but the ecophysiological mechanisms underlying their success are often understudied.
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