Thermal biology and behavioural ecology of Liolaemus archeforus and Liolaemus silvanae

This repository contains raw field and laboratory data on the thermal biology and behaviour of two sympatric endemic Patagonian lizards, Liolaemus archeforus and Liolaemus silvanae (Squamata: Liolaemidae), collected on the Buenos Aires Lake Plateau, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina, during three austral summer field campaigns (2022, 2023, and 2024). The dataset is organized into two sheets. The "Field data" sheet includes the date and time of capture for each individual, sex, body temperature (Tb), substrate temperature (Ts), and air temperature (Ta), along with behavioral variables (body posture, sun exposure, and perch type). It also includes the structural and thermal microhabitat used by each lizard, as well as operative temperatures (Te). The "lab data" contain experimental measurements of preferred body temperatures (TsetMin, Tset, and TsetMax), indices of thermal quality and thermoregulatory precision (de and db), critical thermal limits (CTmin and CTmax), and locomotor performance measured across a range of experimental temperatures (18–38 °C). They also include parameters derived from thermal performance curves, such as maximum performance (Vmax) and optimal temperature (To), as well as the lower and upper limits and the breadth of the 80% and 95% performance intervals (B80 and B95). Taken together, these data allow for the assessment of interspecific differences in thermoregulatory behavior and thermal physiology under the environmental conditions of the Patagonian steppe.