The Biogeography Of Diel Patterns In Herpetofauna

Abstract

Animal activity varies greatly during daylight and nighttime hours, with species ranging from strictly diurnal or nocturnal, to cathemeral or crepuscular. Which of these categories a species falls into may be determined by a variety of factors, including temperature, and biogeographic location. In this study I analyzed diel activity patterns at 13 sites distributed around the world, encompassing a total of 901 species of reptile and amphibians. I compared these activity patterns to the absolute latitudes of each site and modeled diel behavior as a function of distance from the equator. I found that latitude does correlate with the presence of nocturnal snake and lizard species. However, I did not find significant results correlating latitude to any other reptile or amphibian lineage.