Effects of Incubation Temperature on the Size of Caiman Latirostris (Crocodylia: Alligatoridae) at Hatching and after One Year

We investigated the effects of incubation temperature (29°C, 31°C, and 33°C) on total length (TL) and body mass (BM) of Caiman latirostris, a crocodilian with temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD), at hatching (N  =  180) and in a sample of hatchlings (N  =  40) after one year of raising. Si...

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Veröffentlicht in:Journal of herpetology 2007-06, Vol.41 (2), p.205-210
Hauptverfasser: Piña, Carlos I, Larriera, Alejandro, Medina, MarlÍn, Webb, Grahame J. W
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Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:We investigated the effects of incubation temperature (29°C, 31°C, and 33°C) on total length (TL) and body mass (BM) of Caiman latirostris, a crocodilian with temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD), at hatching (N  =  180) and in a sample of hatchlings (N  =  40) after one year of raising. Size at hatching was strongly clutch-specific. Animals incubated at 31°C (100% females) were larger than at 29°C (100% female) and 33°C (100% males). Absolute growth to one year was higher for females (eggs incubated at 29°C and 31°C) than for males (eggs incubated at 33°C). The possibility that constant 33°C incubation temperature had compromised embryological development cannot be rejected. If so, it confirms that high incubation temperatures can have long-lasting effects on posthatching growth. If not, possible advantages of females growing more rapidly than males are discussed.
ISSN:0022-1511
1937-2418
DOI:10.1670/0022-1511(2007)41[205:EOITOT]2.0.CO;2