Effects of Warm Temperatures on Metabolic Rate and Evaporative Water Loss in Tuatara, a Cool-Climate Rhynchocephalian Survivor.

The thermal sensitivity of physiological rates is a key characteristic of organisms. For tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus), the last surviving member of the reptilian order Rhynchocephalia and an unusually cold-tolerant reptile, we aimed to clarify responses in indices of metabolic rate (oxygen consumption [[Formula: see text]] and carbon dioxide production [[Formula: see text]]) as well as rates of total evaporative water loss (TEWL) to temperatures at the warmer end of the known tolerated range; currently, patterns for metabolic rate are unclear above 25°C, and TEWL has not been measured above 25°C. We first established that metabolic rate was lowest during the photophase and then measured [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], and TEWL at six temperatures (12°, 20°, 24°, 27°, 29°, and 30°C) during this phase. Consistent with our predictions, we found that mass-adjusted [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], and TEWL increased at least 3.5-fold between 12° and 30°C (at 30°C, rates were 2.509 mL g-1 h-1 , 2.001 mL g-1 h-1 , and 1.829 mg-1 g-1 h-1 , respectively). Temperature coefficients (Q10 values) for mass-adjusted [Formula: see text] and TEWL showed thermal dependence between 12° and 29°C but with a reduced increase or thermal independence between 29° and 30°C. There was no observed effect of egg incubation temperature (inferred sex) on the subsequent metabolic rates of juveniles. The respiratory exchange ratio implied a switch from carbohydrate metabolism at <22°C to lipid metabolism at >27°C. The rigorous measurement of [Formula: see text] and TEWL provides a basis for future studies to predict the thermal sensitivity of tuatara to human-mediated climate change.