How does sensory integration of environmental information drive thermoregulation in lizards? Implications for environmental change responses

Abstract

Thermoregulation is an essential fitness-relevant process for nearly all ectothermic animals. Preferred or optimal body temperatures can be achieved through both behavioural and physiological mechanisms and the ecological importance and evolutionary context of these mechanisms have been well studied. Less understood, however, are the mechanisms driving variation in thermoregulatory decisions. With this Commentary, we emphasize the importance of understanding the sensory pathways and processes by which organisms translate information from their environment to thermoregulatory decisions and highlight the lack of essential empirical data in this field. Leveraging the rich literature of thermoregulation in lizards, we first synthesize established mechanisms of both behavioural and physiological thermoregulation. We then describe what is known about the sensory pathways and integration centres of the nervous system that transduce environmental information into thermoregulatory actions, via somatic and autonomic pathways. We provide guidance on how a better integration of sensory biology, endocrinology, animal behaviour and thermal biology will improve our understanding of key aspects of thermoregulation in ectotherms. Finally, we offer future directions to obtain a more cohesive understanding of thermoregulation, especially as cues and information in the environment continue to shift with climate change.