Seebacher Frank
Integrative Physiology, School of Biological Sciences A08, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
J Comp Physiol B. 2005 Oct;175(7):453-61. doi: 10.1007/s00360-005-0010-6. Epub 2005 Oct 26.
Biological functions are dependent on the temperature of the organism. Animals may respond to fluctuation in the thermal environment by regulating their body temperature and by modifying physiological and biochemical rates. Phenotypic flexibility (reversible phenotypic plasticity, acclimation, or acclimatisation in rate functions occurs in all major taxonomic groups and may be considered as an ancestral condition. Within the Reptilia, representatives from all major groups show phenotypic flexibility in response to long-term or chronic changes in the thermal environment. Acclimation or acclimatisation in reptiles are most commonly assessed by measuring whole animal responses such as oxygen consumption, but whole animal responses are comprised of variation in individual traits such as enzyme activities, hormone expression, and cardiovascular functions. The challenge now lies in connecting the changes in the components to the functioning of the whole animal and its fitness. Experimental designs in research on reptilian thermal physiology should incorporate the capacity for reversible phenotypic plasticity as a null-hypothesis, because the significance of differential body temperature-performance relationships (thermal reaction norms) between individuals, populations, or species cannot be assessed without testing that null-hypothesis.
生物功能取决于生物体的温度。动物可能通过调节体温以及改变生理和生化速率来应对热环境的波动。表型灵活性（速率函数中的可逆表型可塑性、驯化或适应）在所有主要分类类群中都存在，并且可以被视为一种原始状态。在爬行动物中，所有主要类群的代表都表现出对热环境长期或慢性变化的表型灵活性。爬行动物的驯化或适应最常通过测量整个动物的反应（如耗氧量）来评估，但整个动物的反应是由个体特征（如酶活性、激素表达和心血管功能）的变化组成的。现在的挑战在于将这些组成部分的变化与整个动物的功能及其适应性联系起来。爬行动物热生理学研究中的实验设计应将可逆表型可塑性的能力纳入零假设，因为如果不检验该零假设，就无法评估个体、种群或物种之间不同体温-性能关系（热反应规范）的重要性。
