Aerobic and Anaerobic Activity Metabolism of Limbless and Fossorial Reptiles

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Abstract
We studied oxygen consumption and lactate accumulation during intense, short-term exercise at 25 C by four species of limbless reptiles: the fossorial lizards Anniella pulchra and Ophisaurus ventralis, the fossorial amphisbaenian Trogonophis wiegmanni, and the snake Thamnophis butleri. The three fossorial reptiles had standard metabolic rates 34%-67% below average for reptiles of their mass, which may be beneficial in their subterranean habitats. During a 2-min burst of activity;, oxygen consumption rose 7-15-fold in Anniella, Trogonophis and Thamnophis, and 33-fold in Ophisaurus. Anniella, Trogonophis, and Thamnophis had active metabolic rates, mass-specific aerobic scopes, anaerobic scopes, and total metabolic scopes similar to those of other reptiles of their body size, whereas Ophisaurus had exceptionally high values. Ophisaurus is thus unusual in having both a very high aerobic scope and a large anaerobic scope. Our data lead us to conclude that limblessness is not associated with a marked divergence from the metabolic patterns of quadrupedal reptiles, and that fossorial and surface-dwelling reptiles cannot be distinguished on the basis of metabolic indices.