Herpetology

Lawrence C. “Larry” Wit

1975-2012

BA Wheaton College
MS Western Illinois University
PhD University of Missouri

Larry Wit is part of a remarkable lineage of faculty who have taught vertebrate physiology at Auburn University. For most of his career he ran a lab that was housed in the Physiology Building, an edifice that was the original School of Veterinary Medicine at Auburn University and later became the teaching and research labs for physiology and cell biology. Larry’s research interests are in the field of ecological energetics and, while at Auburn, he developed brumation of Six-lined Racerunners as a model system. This led to production of three masters students and important contributions to the book Biology of Whiptail Lizards (Genus Cnemidophorus) published by the Oklahoma Museum of Natural History. Besides this direct tie to herpetology at Auburn University, Larry is also famous for providing the name (Komongo) for the large African lungfish that resided in Craig Guyer’s office for many years. When Larry became Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Science and Mathematics his old office and lab became part of the space occupied by the herpetological specimens during the short period of time during which these specimens were housed in the Physiology Building.

Herpetology Students Advised

Sellers, Jeffery C.
(1980, MS)
Circannual plasma T4 titers in the hibernating lizard Cnemidophorus sexlineatus
Ragland, Isabel M.
(1980, MS)
Temperature acclimation and its proposed adaptive significance in Cnemidophorus sexlineatus (Linnaeus) and Anolis carolinensis (Voight)
Killigan, Kay E.
(1981, MS)
Natural history of Cnemidophorus sexlineatus during hibernation