Meeting Abstract
For turtles, the thermal environment that the embryo experiences during incubation plays a critical role in many biological processes. Sex ratios of species with temperature dependent sex determination are often estimated based on such values. The most common practices for measuring sex ratios on sea turtle nesting beaches use proxies that estimate the sex ratios indirectly by using nest temperatures, beach temperatures, and incubation duration. However, the environment that the embryo actually experiences is that of the inside of the egg. Here we ask the questions (1) How does the temperature inside of a turtle egg relate to the temperature outside in the nest or incubation medium? and (2) How do thermal measures change under different hydric conditions? Trachemys scripta eggs were incubated at constant temperatures (29 °C or 31 °C) and were subjected to either wet or dry moisture treatments. We used thermocouples to measure the temperature inside and outside of the egg as well air temperature over 24h trials. The majority of the embryos remained alive throughout the course of the trials. The procedure for introducing the thermocouple in the egg will be described. While the temperature inside and outside of the egg did not differ, moisture treatments had a significant effect on incubation temperatures. Understanding the relationship between the outside environment and the inside of the egg is key in order to make accurate assumptions about conditions that a turtle embryo experiences during development. Such information is relevant to understanding temperature dependent sex determination as well as embryonic growth.
