Circadian Organization in Lizards: The Role of the Pineal Organ

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Abstract
After pinealectomy, the iguanid lizard Sceloporus olivaceus exhibits a "splitting" of the circadian activity rhythm into two components, marked changes in the period of the rhythm, or arrhythmicity. These effects are consistent with either of two hypotheses: (i) The pineal organ is a coupling device between circadian oscillators in a multioscillator system, or (ii) the pineal organ is itself a master oscillator, which entrains other circadian oscillators and imposes its frequency upon them.