Graphs Built From Reported Results

 Quick Analysis Plan Copied

 Long Analysis Plan

1. Graph Plan from the User's Guide Metrics (Tb, Te, Tset, db, de, E/Ex)

The Massasauga dataset is the only source with complete, directly comparable quantitative values for all requested thermal biology metrics, so it anchors every graph below. Reported values: mean body temperature Tb = 31.7 ± 0.3°C from a thermal gradient; the set range Tset = 30.0–33.6°C (25th–75th percentile); operative environmental temperature Te fell below Tset in 99% of observations (9142/9215) with a mean Te–Tset deviation of 10.7°C; thermoregulation accuracy db = 6.9°C (day 6.3, night 9.6); effectiveness de = 3.3°C (day 3.4, night 2.7); and %MaxE = 63.9% (day 65.5%, night 57.1%) from 34 snakes.Massasauga thermoregulation indices

Interpretation: db exceeds de by ~3.6°C, meaning snakes closed about half the gap between their Te and Tset — effective but imperfect thermoregulation. Night db is larger (9.6°C) yet night de is smaller (2.7°C), so nocturnal gains come disproportionately from a colder, more challenging baseline rather than superior behavioral precision.Day vs night thermoregulation

2. Cross-Species and Cross-Season Contrast

The Hoplocephalus stephensii study provides the contrast metric set: field Tb 24.0°C, lab Tset range 27.8–29.3°C, mean Tb–Ta ≈ 3.5°C, and mean de − db ≈ 0.19 — a far lower thermoregulatory gain than the Massasauga. Comparing the two makes the guide's metric framework concrete: a 'reluctant heliotherm' vs a boreal active thermoregulator.Hoplocephalus thermal ecology

Code plan (Python 3): structure the pipeline as (a) data ingestion from the user's guide tables into pandas; (b) validation of metric definitions (db = |Tb−Te| deviation from Tset; de = deviation of Te from Tset; E = (de−db)/de); (c) computation of E/Ex and %MaxE; (d) Plotly rendering (bar, box, scatter Tb vs Te, and a thermal-knowledge network via vis-network linking Tb→Te→Tset→db→de→E). All values above are reported observations; the Hoplocephalus midpoint Tset is a BGPT-derived mean (27.8–29.3°C / 2 ≈ 28.55°C), not a reported number.

3. Limitations & Blindspots

• Massasauga results derive from two study sites on the Upper Bruce Peninsula; habitat sampling bias and limited power for gravid-female subgroup analyses are explicit limitations.Massasauga limitations
• Hoplocephalus used shaded air temperature as a Te proxy due to canopy access constraints, potentially biasing the de/db indices.Hoplocephalus limitations
• Ex metric definitions vary across the thermal biology literature; confirm the user's guide formula before computing E and Ex to avoid a definitional mismatch.