Thermoregulatory behavior and orientation preference in bearded dragons. Further, increased variability in thermal preference occurs in groups, demonstrating the potential for agonistic behaviors to compromise optimal thermoregulation in competitive situations, potentially leading to segregation, rather than aggregation. These data suggest aggregation occurs in neonatal bearded dragons through mutual attraction to a common resource. Lizards aggregated more when the light was on at both temperatures, suggesting that individuals were equally attracted to or repelled from the heat source, depending on the ambient temperature. An experimental design in which light and ambient temperature (T(a)) (20 versus 30 degrees C) were altered established that a light bulb (source of heat) was a limited and valuable resource to both isolated and grouped neonatal lizards. We observed that both isolated and grouped individuals achieved a similar level of thermoregulation (mean T(b) over trial) within a thermal gradient, but that individuals within a group had lower thermoregulatory precision. This study was designed to gain an understanding of how aggregation and thermoregulation interact. A proximate mechanism for this behavior is the thermal advantage of heat storage (i.e., grouped lizards benefit through a decreased surface area to volume ratio), although competition for limited thermal resources, or aggregation for social reasons are alternative explanations. As neonates, bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps) are often observed to aggregate in vertical strata. Khan, Jameel J Richardson, Jean M L Tattersall, Glenn JĮctothermic vertebrates, such as reptiles, thermoregulate behaviorally by choosing from available temperatures in their environment. Thermoregulation and aggregation in neonatal bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps).

Bearded dragon spring fever