Summary
The locomotor activity of lizards was recorded in constant light, and temperature cycles of different amplitude (Fig. 1). It was determined whether or not the circadian periodicity of the animals was entrained by the external cycles. With diminishing amplitude of the temperature cycle, the number of animals entrained decreased (table); but even with daily temperature fluctuations as small as 0.9° C, 2 out of 8 animals were still entrained.
In some cases, an influence of the cyclically fluctuating ambient temperature was noticeable though the circadian rhythm was not fully entrained: it showed “relative coordination” with the external cycle (Fig. 2).
The high sensitivity to ambient temperature fluctuations demonstrated here, might account for some of the findings where the circadian period, in “constant conditions”, did not deviate from that under natural conditions. Some cases in which the circadian period returned to the “natural” phase in “constant conditions” following a phase shift, might have a similar cause.
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Hoffmann, K. Synchronisation der circadianen Aktivitätsperiodik von Eidechsen durch Temperaturcyclen verschiedener Amplitude. Z. Vergl. Physiol. 58, 225–228 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00302637
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00302637