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Aim: Squamate fitness is affected by body temperature, which in turn is influenced by environmental temperatures and, in many species, by exposure to solar radiation. The biophysical drivers of body temperature have been widely studied, but we lack an integrative synthesis of actual body temperatures experienced in the field, and their relationships to environmental temperatures, across phylogeny, behaviour and climate. Location: Global (25 countries on six continents). Taxa: Squamates (210 species, representing 25 families). Methods: We measured the body temperatures of 20,231 individuals of squamates in the field while they were active. We examined how body temperatures vary with substrate and air temperatures across taxa, climates and behaviours (basking and diel activity). Results: Heliothermic lizards had the highest body temperatures. Their body temperatures were the most weakly correlated with substrate and air temperatures. Body temperatures of non‐heliothermic diurnal lizards were similar to heliotherms in relation to air temperature, but similar to nocturnal species in relation to substrate temperatures. The correlation of body temperature with air and substrate temperatures was stronger in diurnal snakes and non‐heliothermic lizards than in heliotherms. Body‐substrate and body‐air temperature correlations varied with mean annual temperatures in all diurnal squamates, especially in heliotherms. Thermal relations vary with behaviour (heliothermy, nocturnality) in cold climates but converge towards the same relation in warm climates. Non‐heliotherms and nocturnal species body temperatures are better explained by substrate temperature than by air temperature. Body temperature distributions become left‐skewed in warmer‐bodied species, especially in colder climates. Main Conclusions: Squamate body temperatures, their frequency distributions and their relation to environmental temperature, are globally influenced by behavioural and climatic factors. For all temperatures and climates, heliothermic species' body temperatures are consistently higher and more stable than in other species, but in regions with warmer climate these differences become less pronounced. A comparable variation was found in non‐heliotherms, but in not nocturnal species whose body temperatures were similar to air and substrate irrespective of the macroclimatic context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cardiovascular diseases are on the rise around the world and have become some of the leading causes of death. To enhance their chances of survival and effectively manage costs, indigenous communities in developing countries have sought natural remedies from plants and food materials within their reach. This established preference has seen Moringa oleifera garner special attention due to the praised effects of its leaves and other parts. The focus of this study was to investigate the antihypertensive activity of crude MoMLE (CME) and five solvent fractions of the same using C. gambianus and elucidate the effect of their separate interactions with atropine. Moringa oleifera (MO) leaf was collected from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka; C. gambianus was obtained from Okposi-Okwu, Ebonyi State; and antihypertensive activity was assessed using a blood pressure transducer following established methods. The result showed that CME and other fractions had a dose-dependent negative inotropic and chronotropic effect on C. gambianus as follows: N-Hexane fraction (NHF)-19.0 8.1 mmHg, chloroform fraction (CLF)-15.0 3.0 mmHg, ethyl acetate fraction (EAF)-22.3 10.7 mmHg, acetone fraction (ACF)-19.7 7.2 mmHg, and methanol fraction (MEF)-25.7 1.2 mmHg. Similar activity was observed for acetylcholine (-42 ± 4.4 mmHg) which was used as a reference drug (positive control). The study revealed that MoMLE has a hypotensive effect with methanol fraction (MEF) having the second highest hypotensive (-25.7 ± 1.2 mmHg) activity after CME with a 28.7 ± 4.2 mmHg lowering effect. Atropine interaction blocked the extracts as well as acetylcholine, suggesting a muscarinicreceptor mediated action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]