Meeting Abstract
P3.110 Thursday, Jan. 6 Warm and humid: Nest-site selection in an emerging parental care model STAHLSCHMIDT, Z.R.*; BRASHEARS, J; DENARDO, D.F.; Arizona State Univ., Tempe; Arizona State Univ., Tempe; Arizona State Univ., Tempe zs@asu.edu
Parental care represents an adaptation of great importance, as it is a convergent trait exploited by a broad range of taxa. Often, successful parents must balance multiple developmental variables (e.g., embryonic water balance and thermoregulation). Pythons have recently emerged as ideal parental care models because females exhibit simple egg-brooding behaviors that significantly influence variables of widespread importance (i.e., embryonic predation, hydration, temperature, and respiration). Adaptive nest-site selection is a prevalent parental care behavior that has been shown to enhance several developmental variables. Yet, the degree to which python nest-site selection enhances the developmental environment is unclear. Thus, we determined the roles of nest humidity and temperature in python nest-site selection because these variables influence python egg-brooding behavior and are strongly associated with offspring fitness. We created a radial maze with three nest site types—O[TH]: optimal temperature (31.5°C) and humidity (23 g•m-3 H2O), O[T]: optimal temperature, sub-optimal humidity (13 g•m-3 H2O), and O[H]: sub-optimal temperature (25°C) and optimal humidity. We monitored the locations of female Children’s pythons (Antaresia childreni) during gravidity, at oviposition, and when non-reproductive. Females significantly preferred O[TH] over O[T] and O[H] during both reproductive stages. However, female choice was not significantly different than random when non-reproductive. These data, when considered with previous results, demonstrate that reproductive females are more selective in their refuge site selection when reproductive and that females meet the thermal and hydric needs of offspring at multiple time points (i.e., during gravidity, at oviposition, and during egg brooding).
