Meeting Abstract
P3.127 Tuesday, Jan. 6 Effect of nest temperature on egg-brooding behavior, metabolism, and clutch-nest thermal relations in Children’s pythons (Antaresia childreni) STAHLSCHMIDT, ZR*; DENARDO, DF; Arizona State Univ. – Tempe; Arizona State Univ. – Tempe zs@asu.edu
Parental care meets several critical needs of developing offspring, and egg-brooding in pythons is an exceptional model for examining environmental influences on specific parental behaviors because python egg-brooding is limited in complexity, dynamic yet limited in spatial movement, and modulates embryonic temperature, respiration, and water balance. We used captive Childrens pythons (Antaresia childreni) to assess their facultative endothermic capability, the influence of the gradient between the nest temperature (Tnest) and clutch temperature (Tclutch) on egg-brooding behaviors, and the effect of these behaviors on the developmental micro-environment. We monitored maternal egg-brooding behavior, rates of brooding unit (i.e., female and associated clutch) respiratory gas exchange, Tnest, Tclutch, and intra-clutch oxygen tension (PO2clutch) during acute changes among four incubation temperature conditions: constant preferred temperature (31.5C); cooling (Tnest < Tclutch); constant cool temperature (25.6C); and warming (Tnest > Tclutch). We demonstrated that A. childreni are not facultatively endothermic because brooding unit Q10 for and were similar to other ectothermic boid snakes (1.9 – 5.7) and Tclutch conformed to Tnest at the constant, cool temperature treatment. Females coiled tightly around eggs more often during cooling to conserve clutch heat and less often during warming to expedite an increase in Tclutch. Additionally, the amount of time that females spent tightly coiled during warming significantly affected the Tnest-Tclutch gradient. Together these results indicate that, although female A. childreni are not facultatively endothermic, they are capable of assessing the Tnest-Tclutch gradient and making behavioral adjustments to enhance the thermal micro-environment of their developing offspring.
