Borrell Brendan J, Laduc Travis J, Dudley Robert
Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3140, USA.
Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol. 2005 Apr;140(4):471-6. doi: 10.1016/j.cbpb.2005.02.012. Epub 2005 Apr 25.
We used infrared thermography to study respiratory cooling in the rattlesnakes (Viperidae: Crotalinae) and to partition the effects of air temperature, humidity, and activity levels on head-body temperature differences. We observed a single, cooled region centered around the mouth and nasal capsule that extended across the pit membrane at air temperatures above 20 degrees C. Both head and body temperatures of rattlesnakes increased linearly with air temperature. Head-body temperature differentials also increased with air temperature, but declined significantly at higher relative humidities. Rattling rattlesnakes exhibited significantly greater head-body temperature differentials than did resting rattlesnakes. We suggest that respiratory cooling may provide a thermal buffer for the thermoreceptive pit organs at high air temperatures, but caution that this adaptive hypothesis must be tested with direct neural or behavioral assays.
我们使用红外热成像技术研究响尾蛇（蝰蛇科：响尾蛇亚科）的呼吸散热，并区分气温、湿度和活动水平对头部与身体温度差异的影响。我们观察到，在气温高于20摄氏度时，围绕嘴部和鼻囊有一个单一的冷却区域，该区域延伸至颊窝膜。响尾蛇的头部和身体温度均随气温呈线性上升。头部与身体的温度差也随气温升高，但在相对湿度较高时显著下降。发出响声的响尾蛇比静止的响尾蛇表现出显著更大的头部与身体温度差。我们认为，呼吸散热可能在高气温时为热感受颊窝器官提供一个热缓冲，但提醒注意，这一适应性假说必须通过直接的神经或行为测定来检验。
