No emotional fever in toads

Four Bufo marinus toads and one Bombina bombina toad were placed individually along a temperature gradient where they could regulate their body temperature through behavioral means. When injected intraperitoneally with killed Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria, the toads sought heat and raised their body core temperature. Gentle handling by the experimenter, however, was not followed by heat-seeking behavior and rising core temperature. These findings confirm the existence of behavioral fever, but not emotional fever, in the species studied. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.