INTRODUCTION 



The data included here form the basis of a review of the adaptations of 

 the reptilian blood system for oxygen transport and delivery (Pough in press a) . 

 Table 1 includes data directly related to oxygen transport (hematocrit, hemoglobin 

 concentration, blood oxygen capacity) and Table 2 summarizes measurements of the 

 Bohr Effect. Information on blood oxygen affinities and heats of oxyeenation 

 has been presented elsewhere and is not included (Pough 1977a, b, in press a), 



The measurements included have been dra^^m from diverse sources and various 

 techniques of measurement were used. I soon realized that it was not practical 

 to make distinctions among different techniques or methods of reporting data 

 because In many instances the original sources did not provide the necessary 

 information. I have generally retained the taxonomic designation employed by 

 the original source; a few major changes are explained in footnotes. To be 

 consistent with papers based on this summary (Pough in press a, b) I have 

 used Chrysemys in place of Pseudemys and }]evod.ia for New World Natvix . 



This summary incorporates and extends data presented in two earlier 

 summaries (Dessauer 1970, MacMahon & Hamer 1975a), In every case I attempted 

 to verify those data and I was successful in most instances. (In some cases 

 I have chosen to report different values from the same sources,) There were 

 a few plausible records in the earlier summaries that I could not trace. In 

 those instances I have included the datum and cited the summary as its source. 



Ontogenetic variation in the oxygen transport characteristics of reptilian 

 blood is widespread and may be reflected by ontogenetic changes in ecology or 

 behavior. (See Frair 1977 and Pough 1977c, d, 1978 for examples and a review.) 

 Altitudinal variation has also been noted (Vinegar & Hillyard 1972, Weathers & 

 l<mite 1972, Ballinger & Newlin 1975, Newlin & Ballinger 1976). To stress the 

 occurrence of such variation I have, in a number of instances, presented a 

 range of values rather than mean values. For statistical analysis I used 

 the mean value if it was provided by the source or could be calculated from 

 the data; failing that I used the midpoint of the range. Mean values were 

 calculated for families and higher taxa in two ways: (1) By source, using a 

 single value for a species from each source. Mean values for families are 

 presented only in this form, (2) By svecies , using a single value for each 

 species calculated as the mean of the values reported for that species by all 

 sources. The mean values obtained in these two ways do not differ. 



I am grateful to Martin E, Feder who supplied unpublished data for 

 several species of snakes, and to Amanda Midori Pough who helped to organize 

 the literature citations. My own work reported here was supported primarily 

 by the National Science Foundation (Grant GB-18,985), 



