Literaturdatenbank
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Doody, S. J., Stewart, B., Camacho, C., & Christian, K. , Complex hatching in the pig-nosed turtle - abstract. Unpublished paper presented at Program and Abstracts of the Tenth Annual Symposium on the Conservation and Biology of Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles.
Added by: Admin (06 Jan 2014 18:22:45 UTC) |
| Resource type: Conference Paper BibTeX citation key: Doody2012a View all bibliographic details  |
Categories: General Keywords: Carettochelyidae, Carettochelys insculpta, Haltung - husbandry, Schildkröten - turtles + tortoises Creators: Camacho, Christian, Doody, Stewart Collection: Program and Abstracts of the Tenth Annual Symposium on the Conservation and Biology of Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles |
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| Abstract |
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A rare and remarkable animal behavior is communication among embryos within a clutch of eggs. For example, embryonic vocalizations facilitate synchronous hatching in some birds and crocodilians. Synchronous hatching in (apparently) non- vocalizing turtles suggests a different mechanism of embryonic communication: vibration-induced hatching. We addressed the idea that embryos can communicate with one another via vibrations that expedite hatching in the Pig-nosed Turtle (Carettochelys insculpta), a species that has evolved explosive hatching in response to hypoxia during nest flooding associated with the onset of the wet season. Laboratory experiments tested the hypotheses that groups of (sibling) embryos can hatch and emerge more rapidly than solitary embryos, and the hypothesis that a vibration cue can expedite hatching relative to a hypoxic cue alone. We first demonstrated a vibration cue for hatching: vibration-induced hatching latency (~8 min) was shorter than the hypoxia-induced hatching latency (~16 min). Second, we demonstrated that latency to both hatching and emergence from experimental nests was significantly shorter in groups of eggs compared to solitary eggs, when subjected to hypoxic conditions (perfusion in gaseous nitrogen or immersion in water, respectively). Although we did not directly link vibrations and the sibling effect, leaving open the possibility of embryo vocalizations, our experiments, along with a simple mathematical model, suggest that Pig-nosed Turtle embryos can detect and respond to sibling vibrations, and that these embryonic signals may increase the survival of siblings by reducing the latency to hatch and emerge under flood conditions. Our results are also novel in revealing multiple hatching cues in a single species within a single environmental context. We discuss our results within the context of recent findings of vocalizations in embryos of the South American Giant River Turtle, and with respect to other species that have similar reproductive strategies to Pig-nosed Turtles.
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