Effects of incubation temperature on hatchling pine snakes: implications for survival |
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Authors: | Joanna Burger |
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Institution: | (1) Division of Life Sciences, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08855, USA email: burger@biology.rutgers.edu, Tel.: +1-908-445-4318, Fax: +1 908-445-5870, US |
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Abstract: | Incubation temperature in ectothermic vertebrates affects incubation periods, and in some reptiles it affects sex ratios
and behavior. I present evidence that incubation temperature affects emergence and post-hatching behavior of pine snakes (Pituophis melanoleucus) that could influence survival in the weeks before hibernation. Hatchlings incubated at low temperatures remained in the
nest longer, had fewer alternate nest openings, and fewer underground tunnels to hide in than did hatchlings from warmer temperatures.
These conditions could render hatchlings from low-temperature nests more vulnerable to predation because, if a nest is opened,
they are not inside tunnels where they would be protected. Hatchlings from nests incubated at low temperatures took longer
to find shade during a thermoregulation test, and were less likely to move about in search of other cover than were those
from higher-incubation-temperature artificial nests. Similarly, hatchlings from nests with low incubation temperatures were
less responsive to a predatory stimulus and had a longer latency to strike than other hatchlings. Taken together, hatchlings
from nests with low incubation temperatures might be less able to avoid predators and find shade than those from nests incubated
at higher temperatures, and thus could be expected to have lower survival in nature.
Received: 21 July 1997 / Accepted after revision: 15 February 1998 |
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Keywords: | Pine snake Emergence behavior Hibernation Temperature Predation |
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