Upper Respiratory Tract Disease (URTD), caused by the pathogens Mycoplasma agassizii and M. testudineum, has been documented in the desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii). Although URTD was identified as a putative agent that led to federal listing of the Mojave population of the desert tortoise, little is known about this disease in the Sonoran population of the desert tortoise. The purpose of this study was to determine: 1) the prevalence of URTD across an urban gradient in Greater Tucson, Arizona, 2) the relationship between URTD and captive and free-ranging tortoises in Mohave, Maricopa, and Pima counties in Arizona, and 3) the effects of URTD on desert tortoise home range size and winter temperature selection.

Southern toads (Anaxyrus terrestris) are ectothermic terrestrial amphibians. As such they are sensitive to thermal and hydric variability. The interactive effect of hydration state and body temperature is not well understood. The aim of this study is to determine if the costs of dehydration vary at different temperatures and if so, whether toads will select different temperatures to minimize these costs. Costs of dehydration were evaluated by measuring metabolic rate at 100% and 85% hydration state, at 30 and 20 oC. Temperature selection of toads at 100% and 85% hydration state was measured using a thermal gradient. Body temperature, but not hydration state, was determined to have a significant effect on metabolic rate. No significant difference in temperature selection was found between toads at 100% and 85% hydration state. Thus, thermoregulatory behavior as influenced by hydration state could not be predicted in Anaxyrus terrestris.

This thesis focuses on creating an application software for monitoring and analyzing changes in body surface temperature before and after exercise test by the means of contactless thermography. Initial, theoretical part of this thesis talks about principles and possible scenarios, in which one could employ infrared thermography followed by physiology of the exercise load and concludes with an observation of the changes in body surface temperature while focusing on the actions that take place during the exercise test. Practical part of the thesis comprises of the exercise test and building of the application software for the analysis of the acquired thermographic visual output. The application software offers 2 kinds of analyses: general and under-load, while it aims to provide evaluation in both cases based on user-selected areas of interest. Last chapter of this thesis includes final output with commentary and eventual usage of the under-load experiment and application software in practical use.