The reduction in arterial pH with increased temperature is not affected by hyperoxia in toads (Rhinella marina) and pythons (Python molurus).

It is well-established that arterial pH decreases with increased temperature in amphibians and reptiles through an elevation of arterial PCO2, but the underlying regulation remains controversial. The alphastat-hypothesis ascribes the pH fall to a ventilatory regulation of protein ionization, but the pH reduction with temperature is lower than predicted by the pK change of the imidazole-group on histidine. We hypothesize that arterial pH decreases at high, but not at low, temperatures when toads (Rhinella marina) and snakes (Python molurus) are exposed to hyperoxia. In toads, hyperoxia caused similar elevations of arterial PCO2 at 20 and 30°C, indicative of a temperature-independent oxygen-mediated drive to breathing, whereas PCO2 was unaffected by hyperoxia in snakes at 25 and 35°C. These findings do not support our hypothesis of increased oxygen-mediated drive to breathing as body temperature increases.