Dataset to accompany manuscript: "Ups and downs of fossorial life: migration restlessness and geotaxis may explain overwintering emergence in the Spotted Salamander"

Here, we provide an experimental framework to study the behaviour of fossorial ectotherms during soil temperature inversion—a phenomenon that marks the transition between winter and spring in the temperate zone—in light of three non-mutually exclusive hypotheses (i.e., thermoregulatory, negative geotaxis, and migration restlessness).

Using a vertical thermal gradient mimicking a burrow, we evaluated how temperature selection (Tsel), activity, and vertical position selection differed under simulated soil temperature inversion (contrasting the active vs. overwintering thermal gradients) in the Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum). Salamanders had different Tsel and activity levels between gradients, but selected similar heights regardless of thermal gradient orientation.