Body Heat???

[HollywoodB]

Since I'm bored at work and I thought of an old memory and there's not much in this forum, here goes....

When I was younger and vacationing with my relatives in Tenessee, I caught an orange/black salamander in a cave. There were white salamanders in there too, but its kind of irrelevant, at the time the orange/black one looked cooler... ANYWAYS, the water in the bottom of the cave was cold as ice and the cave itself couldn't have been warmer than 55 degrees, so how do cave salamanders create enough body heat or stay warm enough to stay alive?? is their metabolism ultra-slow? what gives? [img]images/forum/icons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] [addsig]

[hisba]

[img]images/forum/icons/icon_smile.gif[/img] well.. all I know is that not all herps require
the same temps to live... it all depends on what
part of the world they are from and they have
adapted to survive in those climates.
Here is a quick snipit from Melissa Kaplan's
site (now back up at anapsid.org):
"Salamanders from cooler climates bury themselves in soil or in the mud at the bottom of ponds, going deep enough to avoid frost and to maintain an even temperature. During this time their metabolism is greatly reduced, thus reducing the amount of energy (calories) burned in the effort just staying alive."

Also, here is another snipit from Marc
Staniszewski's site about salamanders:
"For instance those hailing from Thailand can tolerate higher temperatures than types from China and Nepal, but are less able to tolerate cold conditions. As most individuals directly or indirectly originate from Thailand it can be assumed that the temperature should be in the 55 - 75°F. range although as low as 40°F. and as high as 85°F. will be tolerated for short periods. Below 50°F. and these salamanders enter a period of dormancy (which proves integral where breeding is to be attempted)."

Hope some of that you found interesting..
I personally don't know much about them so
it was kinda fun poking around for info... [img]images/forum/icons/icon_smile.gif[/img][addsig]

[wino]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font class="pn-sub">Quote:</font><HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT class="pn-sub"><BLOCKQUOTE> well.. all I know is that not all herps require
the same temps to live... it all depends on what
part of the world they are from and they have
adapted to survive in those climates.
Here is a quick snipit from Melissa Kaplan's
site (now back up at anapsid.org):
&quot;Salamanders from cooler climates bury themselves in soil or in the mud at the bottom of ponds, going deep enough to avoid frost and to maintain an even temperature. During this time their metabolism is greatly reduced, thus reducing the amount of energy (calories) burned in the effort just staying alive.&quot;

Also, here is another snipit from Marc
Staniszewski's site about salamanders:
&quot;For instance those hailing from Thailand can tolerate higher temperatures than types from China and Nepal, but are less able to tolerate cold conditions. As most individuals directly or indirectly originate from Thailand it can be assumed that the temperature should be in the 55 - 75°F. range although as low as 40°F. and as high as 85°F. will be tolerated for short periods. Below 50°F. and these salamanders enter a period of dormancy (which proves integral where breeding is to be attempted).&quot; </BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE>

I agree.
[addsig]